June 4, 2010 - The events of the past six weeks, as we watch BP’s oil spill consume the rich natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico, claim eleven lives, and adversely impact local communities and economies, has greatly affected the Assateague Coastal Trust Board of Directors. Every day we see another news report that exposes how corporate greed, lax regulatory oversight and lack of enforcement led up to what will no doubt become the greatest environmental disaster in American history.

Laws that were supposed to protect people, natural resources, and local economies were weakened, waived, or totally ignored. Now eleven oil rig workers have died and we must watch as entire marine and coastal ecosystems are fatally impacted, which in turn will impact fisheries, which in turn will impact local community economies, which in turn will impact families. The enormity of the situation defies description. More than ever, we can clearly see that shortchanging environmental protection in the name of free markets, deficit reduction or economic growth will inevitably backfire with disastrous consequences for everyone.

We are very fortunate to live in an area that is not heavily impacted by chemical or oil-based industries. The fragile ecosystems of our Coastal Bays watershed and on Assateague Island are not affected on a daily basis by toxic air emissions or polluted discharges running out of pipes into our waterways.

But this does not mean we can sit back and feel confident that our watershed and our waterways are safe. Just as life has changed forever in the small communities along the Gulf, we must take some of the responsibility for what is happening down there and work harder locally, not only to protect our coastal watershed, but to strive towards a more environmentally sustainable way of life.

The has been closely following the efforts of fellow s in the Gulf of Mexico region as they work hard on the front lines of this crisis. From their on-the-ground and on-the-water perspective they know that this was not an accident. It was preventable, if laws had been enforced, regulations had been followed, and the welfare of the local communities had been considered above shareholder dividends. Take a look at "shrimping" on the Bayou Barataria in Louisiana, after this terrible disaster.

ACT has begun a local effort to raise funds to help support the Waterkeeper efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. Please make a donation today. All Gulf Relief donations will be forwarded directly to our Gulf Coast Waterkeeper efforts with a note of support from the Members and Friends of Assateague Coastal Trust. Make a Donation Now. It's easy and it's secure.

We are many miles away from the Gulf of Mexico and we are not impacted (yet) by the oil that continues to flow from the ocean floor, but we are connected to this disaster by our own carbon footprint. ACT is urging everyone to consider how your day-to-day activities consume fossil fuel-generated energy. Obviously we are not going to stop driving our cars, or cooling our houses. But think about how much of that energy use is carbon based. What can we each do to change our energy consumption habits?

ACT announced last fall, support for the use of wind farms off our coastline to generate a cleaner, more sustainable form of energy for Delmarva. On December 9, 2009 the Board of Directors of the Assateague Coastal Trust (ACT) approved a Position Statement of Support for the use of off shore wind farms as a means to generate cleaner, more sustainable, energy sources for the coastal watershed.

A committee of scientists and engineers sitting on the ACT Board of Directors spent the past year researching this issue and addressing concerns from Board members regarding the environmental impacts from off-shore wind farms. The coal that generates our local energy contributes to increasing carbon emissions, increasing levels of mercury in our fish, and the destruction of mountaintops and communities in Appalachia. Wind energy is one big step away from dirty coal, and a step closer to a cleaner, greener future for our coastal communities.

This year we also witnessed a preventable, horrific accident in the coal industry, caused by corporate greed and lack of regulatory oversight. Most of our electricity on Delmarva is generated by coal fired power plants that emit toxic laden emissions into the air and that create a toxic waste ash that must be stored in huge open air pits. Ordinary citizens in Delaware have been fighting long and hard to force changes at the NRG coal powered plant in Millville, DE that will result in healthier air and water in their communities. We must all work hard to support efforts in MD, DE and VA to move towards cleaner, greener forms of energy (and there is no such thing as 'clean coal.') To find out more about coal's harmful affects, view this short video entitled: The Dirty Lie.

Assateague Coastal Trust asks everyone to consider the following:

1. Energy Conservation and Efficiency
Energy conservation and efficiency in the United States and globally is woefully deficient. Advances in conservation and efficiency can tremendously reduce energy-related water quality and quantity concerns while promoting more sustainable ecological and economic systems.

We support targeted efforts to reduce energy consumption from increased conservation; increased fuel efficiency in transportation; increased energy efficiency in homes and offices; and reduced energy transmission losses.

2. Clean Energy Alternatives
Petroleum, coal, and nuclear-based energy threaten local, regional, and global economic, ecological, and health security. Global warming, acid rain, mercury deposition, hazardous waste disposal, and respiratory illness are but a few of the problems inherent to these sources of energy.

We support thoughtful expansion of alternative sources of energy, including but not limited to, properly sited solar, geothermal, wind, and tidal sources to promote clean, renewable energy and a sustainable economy. This includes instituting incentives for clean sources of energy and disincentives for polluting sources.

3. Decentralized Power Supplies
Our aging energy transmission infrastructure is highly inefficient and costly, and holds consumers hostage to utilities and other energy suppliers with vested interests in carbon and nuclear based energy. We support an energy transmission and infrastructure model that recognizes the benefits from decentralized power generation and encourages self-sufficiency in pursuing home and business energy supplies.

The crisis in the Gulf may be miles away, but whether we like it or not, we are part of the problem and must become part of the solution.

Again, please consider a donation today to our colleagues working on the front lines of the oil spill. Your donations to ACT will go directly to their efforts to organize volunteers, feed volunteers, keep information flowing to the public through their websites, blogs and social media accounts, help local communities that have lost their fishing grounds, and much more. Please Donate Now.

We thank you.

Here are some other links you may find interesting:

SAVE OUR GULF http://www.saveourgulf.org/

MOBILE BAYKEEPER http://www.mobilebaykeeper.org/environmental-matters/transocean-drilling-incident

JOHN WATHEN VIDEO/PHOTO BLOG http://bpoilslick.blogspot.com/

EMERALD COASTKEEPER http://www.emeraldcoastkeeper.org/

BAYOUKEEPER http://www.waterkeeper.org/ht/d/OrganizationDetails/id/507

USAR - http://www2.ucar.edu/news/ocean-currents-likely-to-carry-oil-spill-to-atlantic-coast

More links to Regional Incident agencies will be added here if and when the East Coast feels the impacts.