Thousands of Louisiana residents attended a "Rally for Economic Survival" on Wednesday in Lafayette, the center of the state's oil and gas industry, to protest a planned federal moratorium on offshore drilling operations. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal told the crowd (at 2:28), "The fact that the federal government can't do its job shouldn't cost thousands of Louisianians our jobs."
A protest group called Culture Beyond Oil poured dark molasses around a 3,000-year old statue on display at the British Museum. The group said it was demonstrating against BP's sponsorship of the museum amid the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Activists told reporters they chose an object from Easter Island because it "represents the way in which civilizations once considered invincible can collapse in a short period of time."
Far from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a freelance photographer for ProPublica gets detained by Texas City police and security from a BP refinery in Texas in new videos uploaded by the Galveston County Daily.
Lance Rosenfield, the photographer, was on assignment last week photographing the town from a public road when BP security began following him, according to his account on ProPublica's site. In the following clips, captured from what appears to be a police officer's dashboard camera, Rosenfield can be heard speaking with the security guard and the officer.
"Woah, is that legal to just share? I don't think that's legal to share," Rosenfield says when the security guard asks to get identity information from the police officer (6:15). "Your public police and i understand you're doing your job," he says later at 7:06, "but he's private security."
In the second clip from the scene at 0:16, Rosenfield says "Really my photograph has nothing to do with BP." Later, at 3:13 the security guard has a private chat with the police officer asking him for his phone number. "Let me call you in a couple minutes," he tells the officer, "so this guy doesn't sit back and have a hissy fit."
User name: GALVESTONCOUNTYDAILY Location: Texas City, Texas Date uploaded: July 9 Views: 9 User notes: City's policies on responding to journalists taking photographs or video near petrochemical facilities is under review after a photographer was detained while on assignment covering BP, officials said. Freelance photographer Lance Rosenfield was in Texas City on July 2 to get photos in and around BP's Texas City refinery for ProPublica. This is video from a police dash cam. Read more at http://www.galvnews.com. Click here to watch this video on YouTube.
In a new video uploaded today, a Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitor's Bureau representative assures vacationers that the beaches are safe in Biloxi for the holiday weekend in spite of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. In the clip, a woman named Janice shows off a deserted beach, insisting vacationers can swim in the ocean.
"You may want to know, 'Does it smell like gasoline or does it stink?'" she says. "No. It doesn't." (0:38).
User name:MSGulfCoastCVB Location: Biloxi, Mississippi Date uploaded: July 2 Views: 16 User notes: Janice from the CVB talks about the oil spill cleanup efforts and the 4th of July events, area attractions, golfing, shopping and much more! Click here to watch this video on YouTube.
The AP reports government officials are about to begin a massive effort to relocate 70,000 turtle eggs from Florida and Alabama beaches that are affected by the BP oil spill. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is reportedly going to dig up 800 nests and transport them to Kennedy Space Center where it is hoped they will hatch. But as the video below shows, some volunteers along the Gulf Coast have already started their own rescue efforts.
A video uploaded to YouTube shows the effects on one family's trip to a Florida beach. The clip shows oil smeared on a child's foot, and his aunt trying to wash it off.
User name: scottswear Location: Rosemary Beach, Florida Date uploaded: June 28 Views: 29 User notes: We're currently staying in Rosemary Beach in the Panhandle of FL. Beautiful beach as always, but this scenario unfolded shortly after our morning walk today. This area of the Panhandle was previously free of oil. It became very clear that this is going to be an issue early on in our vacation. Sure we can go and buy water shoes for my twin nephews to avoid this, but there is a lot to be said for the choice vs. HAVING to wear said shoes to avoid this type of situation. Not to mention the soft sand is half the reason to come to this area... not having the option to enjoy barefoot strolls on the beach greatly diminishes the experience of coming to the wonderfully soft white beaches of this area. And trust me, you don't want me to start on the environmental side. Click here to watch this video on YouTube.
Oil washed up on Mississippi beaches for the first time on Sunday, according to reports from national wire services like Reuters. After swimmers and tourists were alerted, the shores were left vacant.
Video was uploaded today from Biloxi, Miss. of the patches of oil that washed up on the state's coast:
User name:danmosqueda Location: Biloxi, Miss. Date uploaded: June 28 Views: 9
Back in 2007, when U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu was director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he saw BP as an ally in developing alternatives to transportation fuels like gasoline and as a partner in improving stewardship of the environment (21:18).
At the time, BP had just given $500 million to UC Berkeley and the University of Illinois to develop new sources of energy and reduce the impact of energy consumption on the environment.
News and commentary sites are discussing the clip today. This appears to be the original version (skip to 21 minutes and 18 seconds to see Chu's interview):
User notes:On February 1, global energy firm BP announced that it had selected UC Berkeley, in partnership with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to lead an unprecedented $500 million research effort to develop new sources of energy and reduce the impact of energy consumption on the environment.
Oil is washing ashore on the Florida panhandle and is expected to continue arriving through Friday, according to the Northwest Florida Daily News. YouTube users are uploading footage of tar balls and oil-covered seaweed, while beachgoers and business owners are expressing frustration that summer vacations are being canceled.
Two Greenpeace activist climbed on stage and stole the podium from BP's Chief of Staff Steve Westwell's speech at the World National Oil Companies Congress in London today. "End of the oil age!" they demanded. Both were dragged away by security.
YouTube users are continuing to document the effects of the BP oil spill on the environment and their communities. Videos taken in Alabama by jsdart show blobs of oil at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, a 7,000 acre wildlife habit established by Congress in 1980, and an interview with the mayor of nearby Orange Beach who is critical of federal clean-up efforts.
Tony Kennon, mayor of Orange Beach, Ala., calls clean-up efforts "almost comical" (0:32) and says the lack of communication between federal, state and local officials and BP leaves him feeling (2:25) "like I'm in the land of Oz."
Oil-drenched adults and children, and a man handing out fake billion-dollar bills wearing an over-sized papier-mache head of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper led a small-scale demonstration in Toronto's financial district.
It was a jump-start to a planned mass protests which coincide with two "top-level summits" next week, according to Reuters: A Group of Eight industrialized countries will meet in a resort town north of the city, and Toronto will also be hosting The G20, a global economic forum.
After hearing of the planned protests for next week, the U.S. State Department is recommending Americans avoid downtown Toronto next week, reports the news wire.
User name: CANRACCanada Location: Toronto, Canada Date uploaded: June 17 Views: 25
User notes:Oxfam Canada's June 17 Day of Action for the G8/G20 meetings in Toronto. Big business and the oil industry team up with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to make tax payers clean up the mess left behind.
Pelicans encased in heavy oil get toweled off (1:59), washed (5:13) and rinsed (7:32) at Ft. Jackson near Venice, La., in this video uploaded by the National Wildlife Federation.
User notes:Brown pelicans being cleaned at Ft. Jackson near Venice, La. Heavy oil is toweled off, then pelicans are washed & rinsed -- a remarkable transition from coated black to relatively clean. Learn more about wildlife rescue at http://www.NWF.org/OilSpill
A YouTube user documented his efforts to capture and clean a bird found on a beach, covered in oil. He reports the bird was later handed over to an animal shelter.
YouTube user robertwgardner records a unique beach cleanup operation in Gulf Shores, Alabama, where tar balls from the BP oil spill have come ashore.
User name: robertwgardner Location: Gulf Shores, Alabama Date uploaded: June 8 Views: 114 Synopsis: Footage shows cleaning trucks along the beach, and at 1:14, an interview with an employee of Beach Tech who explains how the trucks remove tar balls by lifting and sifting the sand. Click here to watch this video on YouTube.
A video uploaded today from a YouTube user in Louisiana shows heavy oil coming ashore at Grand Isle State Park, egrets wading in oily water and at 1:26 a dolphin struggling in shallow water.
The US Coast Guard has released new aerial images from the Deepwater Horizon spill site. The video focuses on the Transocean Discoverer Enterprise, a drillship directly above the leaking well that is trying to funnel and burn off captured oil. The video also shows dozens of smaller ships in the surrounding waters, and at 0:56, large plumes of thick black smoke rising into the air.
Since April, we've been watching the devastation the BP oil spill has inflicted on wildlife, beaches and marshes. Now, an AP reporter has gone scuba diving in the Gulf of Mexico to see how the oil is changing things in the water. Jump to 0:50 to see the underwater shots.
Partner name: AssociatedPress Location: Gulf of Mexico Date uploaded: June 9 Views: 307 User notes: A rare and different perspective at the oil spill from beneath the surface. The AP's Rich Matthews got an exclusive look at the spill by joining a dive team who explored how the oil is impacting the Gulf of Mexico.
Since the BP oil spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, over six million gallons of oil have poured into the water. Now you can see what’s happening firsthand on YouTube, through a live stream of the leak on PBS NewsHour’s YouTube channel. Today, BP will begin their “top kill” procedure, which will attempt to drill mud into the well to block the flowing oil. Thanks to the urging of Congress, you’ll be able to witness the entire process in real-time on YouTube.
Now that you can see what’s going on, PBS and YouTube want you to submit your best ideas, via Google Moderator, on how to stop this environmental catastrophe. PBS NewsHour will air some of the top YouTube submissions in their broadcast tomorrow evening and online:
Many of you have already come up with creative solutions on how to stop the leak or clean up the spill, and you’re using video to make these ideas come to life. Here are a few innovative examples:
Tune in to the live stream here, and if you have ideas you think BP should hear, submit them before 5 p.m. (ET) tomorrow.
CitizenTube is YouTube's News and Politics Blog. Here you'll find important breaking news videos from citizens; developing trends in the use of YouTube by news organizations, activists, politicians, and governments; and lots of other YouTube goodness. Hit us up on Twitter, @citizentube, if you see something worth posting here.
