Tell Congress: Spend BP Fines on Restoring the Gulf

Tell Congress: Spend BP Fines on Restoring the Gulf

The Issue

April 20 will mark one year since the Gulf oil spill disaster began – and Congress has yet to require that BP fines from the horrific spill actually go back toward restoring the Gulf of Mexico.

Under the Clean Water Act, BP must pay fines for each barrel of oil spilled. However, the current law requires that this money be deposited into a trust fund in the federal treasury.

Unless Congress takes action soon, the Clean Water Act penalties from the BP oil disaster will not be reinvested in the Gulf.

Of the more than 600 dead sea turtles found in the months after last year’s oil spill, nearly 500 were Kemp's ridley sea turtles like the one pictured above – the rarest and most endangered species of sea turtle in the world. There is still hope for the Kemp's ridley if we act soon to require that the billions of dollars in fines that BP and other parties must pay go to restoring the sea turtles' habitat in the Gulf.

Send a message to Congress, and urge your legislators to mark the oil spill anniversary by committing Clean Water Act penalties to restoring the Gulf – and saving the Kemp's ridley before it’s too late.

avatar of the starter
National Wildlife Federation Action FundPetition StarterAt <a href="http://Change.org" rel="nofollow">Change.org</a> I am Senior Director of Client Services. Before joining the team at <a href="http://Change.org" rel="nofollow">Change.org</a>, I worked as Senior Campaigner at Care2 and for two years I worked as Senior Consultant at M+R Strategic Services. My foray into online organizing began in 2004, when I co-founded Equality Ohio, an LGBT rights organization and a member organization of the national Equality Federation. In my spare time I tend a small flock of chickens in my Oakland backyard.
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This petition had 14,839 supporters

The Issue

April 20 will mark one year since the Gulf oil spill disaster began – and Congress has yet to require that BP fines from the horrific spill actually go back toward restoring the Gulf of Mexico.

Under the Clean Water Act, BP must pay fines for each barrel of oil spilled. However, the current law requires that this money be deposited into a trust fund in the federal treasury.

Unless Congress takes action soon, the Clean Water Act penalties from the BP oil disaster will not be reinvested in the Gulf.

Of the more than 600 dead sea turtles found in the months after last year’s oil spill, nearly 500 were Kemp's ridley sea turtles like the one pictured above – the rarest and most endangered species of sea turtle in the world. There is still hope for the Kemp's ridley if we act soon to require that the billions of dollars in fines that BP and other parties must pay go to restoring the sea turtles' habitat in the Gulf.

Send a message to Congress, and urge your legislators to mark the oil spill anniversary by committing Clean Water Act penalties to restoring the Gulf – and saving the Kemp's ridley before it’s too late.

avatar of the starter
National Wildlife Federation Action FundPetition StarterAt <a href="http://Change.org" rel="nofollow">Change.org</a> I am Senior Director of Client Services. Before joining the team at <a href="http://Change.org" rel="nofollow">Change.org</a>, I worked as Senior Campaigner at Care2 and for two years I worked as Senior Consultant at M+R Strategic Services. My foray into online organizing began in 2004, when I co-founded Equality Ohio, an LGBT rights organization and a member organization of the national Equality Federation. In my spare time I tend a small flock of chickens in my Oakland backyard.
Media inquiries

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Petition created on April 12, 2011