Selena Xie's blog

Although the Gulf Oil Spill occurred over six months ago, the faith community should remain focused on pursuing environmental and economic justice.  Read More

BP has officially capped the main leak, although reports say that the oil is still seeping two miles away from the leak. The seep is occurring at another well site and, fortunately, are not a risk to the cap. In what was hopeful news, the relief well will reach the busted well by the end of this week which means that they can start pumping cement and mud into the well shutting it off permanently.

Unfortunately, a new tropical storm depression is brewing in the gulf halting all relief well drilling operations. The depression which formed in the Bahamas is headed straight for the well and will pass over it within a few days.

The AP reports that the first dead sperm whale has been found drifting 77 miles out of the gulf spill. The whale's condition suggests that it may have been dead for up to a week. Scientists are currently running tests on the whale to see if its death was caused by the oil spill. Sperm whales are highly endangered in the Gulf of Mexico with only 1400-1600 left. One scientist noted that sperm whales could go exinct if only three were to die a year from unnatural causes.

For the full article, click here.

Forty-three days after the leak was created, almost a third of the Gulf of Mexico has been declared a no-fishing zone by the US. All attempts to stop the leak have failed. In case you’ve lost track, here’s a recounting of the failed attempts:

On April 19th, Congress reinstated the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The 18-day lapse caused NFIP office closures and left hundreds of home buyers in limbo. Senator Byron Dorgan (ND-D) estimated that 1,400 prospective homebuyers a day were put on hold while NFIP shut down.

Even though it is back, the program is in $18 billion in debt, and the Government Accountability Office has reported that it is not "actuarially sound" and suffers from operational issues to boot. FEMA, which operates the program, has made improvements including creating an NFIP Reform Working Group, update on the nation's flood insurance rate maps, and community awareness and participation projects.