Hayward has been the visible face of the Gulf disaster, which could only be partially solved days ago, when BP sealed the well with a temporary cap after it had leaked up to 60,000 barrels of oil a day into the sea, causing serious environmental damage. The spill had negative impacts on the livelihood of the local residents.

However, the local residents and US civil society organizations demand the corporation to take stronger measures, to solve the disaster and to help prevent future incidents.

Last week, three months after the catastrophe, a coalition of civil society organizations – including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace- together with residents of the Gulf Coast, demonstrated outside the US Congress to demand the end to the US addiction to dirty energy sources and demanded the lawmakers to spend their campaign money donated by the oil corporations in the clean-up efforts.

“Congress: you have oil on your hands”, read the banners carried by the demonstrators. Some said that BP still had the duty to restore the existing conditions in the Gulf Coast before the spill.

But they went even further by demanding a clear position from the Congress members.

“Senators need to make a choice, and the American people need to let them know what it must be,” said Ted Glick, policy director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, a Friends of the Earth US press release reports.

He added “Senators can side with BP, ExxonMobil and other dirty energy companies that have dominated U.S. energy policy, or they can take action to support the clean, 21st century energy sources that must, absolutely must, be our future, and soon. Just as the federal government in the early 60’s made it a priority to get a man on the moon by the end of the decade, we must do the same now as far as breaking our fossil fuel addiction. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.”

Photo: www.foe.org