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	B.J. Quintana shades herself with her sign during a Seize BP protest on Central Avenue and Tulane Drive on June 5.

B.J. Quintana shades herself with her sign during a Seize BP protest on Central Avenue and Tulane Drive on June 5.

Grassroots grow out of oil tragedy

About 20 protesters braved the 100-degree heat June 5 to voice concerns about the government’s handling of the April 20 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Seize BP, a national organization that calls for the U.S. government to take control of BP’s assets, organized the protest. The money from those assets should be redistributed to aid cleanup efforts, said organizer Preston Wood, and given to those who have been severely affected by the explosion, including 11 workers that were killed.

“We want to organize into a political force where we can intervene as a people to demand that the government take action against BP, who are thumbing their noses at the people while still making billions of dollars in profit,” he said.

The protest took place at 12 p.m. on Central Avenue and Tulane Drive on Saturday. Wood said protests were held in over 50 cities around the country on Saturday. He said the ANSWER Coalition, a national group advocating for the end of war and racism, hosted
the event.

According to the New York Times website, the government estimates that between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels of oil are leaking into the Gulf per day. Oil from the spill has been seen from Louisiana to Florida.

Also, on Saturday, June 5, during his weekly address, President Obama said 17,500 National Guard troops have been deployed to respond to the spill.

“If oversight was lacking — it will be strengthened,” Obama said during the address.

Protester Valerie Wells said the relationship between big business and government contributed to the disaster. She said the government needs to monitor oil companies like BP more heavily to make sure they have the technology to keep spills from happening.

“(BP) knew in advance that they didn’t have the ability to deal with a problem should it arise a mile underneath the ocean,” she said.
Bernadette Garcia, a protester, said she is especially concerned about wildlife and natural habitats destroyed by the spill.

“We’re responsible to keep our environment safe, not just for human kind but for the animals that live, and we’ve destroyed it — and for money, all for money,” she said.

Garcia said the government needs to take on a bigger role in the cleanup and efforts to stop the flow of oil.

“I don’t think the government should trust BP to clean up something that they caused,” Garcia said.

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According to the New York Times website, government officials have said that BP has the best technology for stopping the spill.
Garcia said BP would be as careless with cleanup as it was with the construction of the oil well.

“I know that BP took short cuts, and that’s why it happened to begin with,” she said. “Now they want to take short cuts in the cleanup.”
Wells said she decided to come to the protest because a grassroots effort is the only way to effect change.

“Unfortunately, the wheels of democracy turn at such a glacial pace that it has to be a grassroots effort,” she said.

She said demanding cleaner energy and reducing reliance on oil is the only way offshore drilling will decrease.

“If we can find ways to force industry to create cleaner industry and make those choices in the marketplace, they will pay attention because they’re in it for the money,” Wells said. *
To learn more about Seize BP, visit www.SeizeBP.org*

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