Bp oil spill: Does it effect you?

[hahaitzmickey]

Dear all,

My name is Mickey, I'm with AAC (http://aachange.org/) a non-profit group formed after Hurricane Katrina to help people around the Mississippi Gulf Coast with endless list of things. Our next big project is this BP OIL SPILL. We are currently helping the local fishermen, shrimpers, oystermens, and etc! The list goes goes on. Sadly to say, the marine life here is done for. I have currently been a saltwater hobbyist for 10 years now. Also I use to be a shrimper myself. Our family own a big freezer boat.

I'm writing in this forum today. To ask all of you saltwater hobbyist!
1. Does this BP OIL SPILL effects you?
2. How does it effects you?
3. What do you think the future holds for the saltwater aquarium hobbyist?
4. I understand that most of you probably make a living in this field. Such as sales of marine life, sales of equipment, and services. Or some of you just do this for a hobby just for enjoyment. If we had to take a stand today and fight against BP to protect what we love to do. Would you step up to the plate?
5. What would you want BP to do if it does effect you!

 

[trb]

I'm afraid the BP oil spill will affect many people, such as my disabled uncle that has cerebral palsy, in many ways that NO ONE will even think about. His father left him thousands of shares of BP (previously Amoco) stock, and he relies on the quarterly dividends to pay for a lot of his stuff. Yes, he gets Social Security for his disability, but that won't pay for everything. I'm afraid with everything BP is going to pay for, and any other fines, etc. that there will not be enough income to continue to pay the dividends he has been receiving. I'm sure there are MANY more retired people relying on BP for their income, and it is not just fat cats that own the stock. It is the hard working people that accumulated their stake in the company over many years like my grandfather. I just hope this spill can be stopped and cleaned up and things back to normal before BP is deemed bankrupt. If the stock goes to zero, my uncle would be out about a half a mil. that was saved up by his father to take care of his nursing home needs in the future.

 

[HippieSmell]

I don't live on the coast or own BP stock, so it hasn't effected me directly yet, other than make me upset. But, like all great disasters, order will come from chaos. This might be a pivotal moment for energy policy in this country. We had our national security and financial upheavals this past decade, now it's time for energy. Interesting days, but too early to tell what will come from it all.

 

[AquaKnight]

I live near the coastal Alabama/Florida border, and though the spill doesn't directly affect my income, having the beaches closed, fishing waters closed, etc, does effect my quality of living. Though it would be hard to monetarily quantify that (though I bet some people are going to try )

I don't believe the spill will affect the hobby, very few items come from the upper gulf and potential areas the spill will travel. Having the Florida reefs destroyed would be heartbreaking if that were to happen. Hopefully the spill will be stopped soon, a full-fledged cleanup operation can happen, and we can start rebuilding.

I definitely don't think having BP fold, or some of the moronic ideas like taxing oil companies into submission, are good at this time in our weak economy. What will we learn? Hopefully how to successfully drill for oil. Some things have been brought to light, like how the US is one of the few countries that doesn't require a remote shutoff valve, that might have prevented the spill. We obviously need more thorough drilling regulations. Though to offset that, will be need more drill operations.

As far as the whole energy change jazz, hopefully not. The alternatives at this present time are jokes. I have a gas water heater because they run circles around electrics. I am most certainly not going to buy some electric skateboard of a car to maybe travel 80 miles, only for a 4 hour recharge.

 

[Gawain1974]

I'd bet my bottom dollar this thread is closed by later today.

 

[hoffy02]

Man you guys dont learn do you???

IBTL