Doors open 10:00 am
First Unitarian Universalist Church, New Orleans
Join Cindy Sheehan, John Clark, Larry Everest, and Gulf region activists, independent of the government and BP in making an ACTION plan
The People Must Act to STOP the Gulf Catastrophe!
The BP oil blowout is an environmental catastrophe, bringing great peril to
marine and wildlife in the Gulf and threatening ecosystems of the planet. The
spill is still out of control and spreading. It jeopardizes communities and
livelihoods. (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
The people
must come together now to stop this nightmare.
Millions are sick at heart
and looking for ways to act. Many individuals and groups have spoken out,
offered suggestions, volunteered to help, protested.
BP and the
government - pursuing their own interests - have ignored people's ideas, blocked
public participation, suppressed and
harassed scientists, and prevented
people on the Gulf from taking initiative to keep oil away from shore. This must
not continue.
A broad, determined, and powerful "peoples' response" is
urgently needed - to get the truth out, to protect the shores and oceans and deal
with the ecological impacts, while exploring deeper causes and
solutions.
The Emergency Summit will bring together scientists, people
from fishing communities, environmental activists, progressives, radicals and
revolutionaries, artists, intellectuals and all who want to halt this
horror.
There will be testimony on the true scope and impact of the
disaster and on what can be done to protect ecosystems, wildlife, and people.
We'll thrash out ways for people to act now - on different fronts and in
different ways - and to galvanize many, many more, across the Gulf and beyond.
The world is watching. We must not allow the Gulf and oceans to be devastated.
Our mission is nothing less than stopping this catastrophe.
Draft Demands:
1. Stop oil drilling in the
Gulf
2. The government and entire oil industry must allocate all
necessary resources to stop the spill and clean up the devastation. Full
support, including by compensation, must be given to efforts by people to save
the Gulf.
3. No punishment to those taking independent initiative; no
gag orders on people hired, contracted, or who volunteer.
4. Full
mobilization of scientists and engineers. Release scientific and technical data
to the public; no more lying and covering up. Full and open scientific
evaluation of emergency measures like the use of dispersants. Fund all necessary
scientific and medical research.
5. Full compensation for all losing
livelihood and income from the disaster.
6. Provide necessary medical
services to those suffering health effects of the spill. Protect the health of
and provide necessary equipment for everyone involved in clean up operations.
Full disclosure of medical and scientific studies about the effects of the oil
disaster.