When President Obama outlined his administration’s plans to curb the ongoing BP oil spill in his national address last night, he mentioned the “wrenching anxiety” that local fishers feel at the potential loss of their livelihoods. But Obama failed to mention another cause of disquiet: the fact that the oil and its chemical dispersants may cause major complications for pregnant women and their unborn children living along the Gulf Coast.

According to Lucinda Marshall at Truthout, young children and babies in utero are at a major risk of chemical poisoning after oil spills because their immune systems are not fully developed, leaving them incapacitated to fight off dangerous compounds. While the National Institutes of Health have provided information on the way endocrine disrupters – common in both the oil and the substances used to clean it up – scientists aren’t clear on the effects of the chemicals, in part because until very recently, they had no idea which chemicals were being disseminated.

Now, without first telling Nalco Holding Co., the manufacturer of the dispersants that BP is using, the Environmental Protection Agency has released a list of ingredients used to break down the oil. And – shocker – the news isn’t pretty. One of the ingredients, 2-butoxyethanol, caused major health problems among cleanup workers on the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. That, plus the oil itself, could spell major risks to pregnant women and their fetuses.

According to Dr. Gina Solomon, senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, “Some of the volatile chemicals in oil have been linked to miscarriage, preterm birth, and low birth weight, so it is a good idea for pregnant women to avoid the areas where there are elevated levels of VOCs [Volatile Organic Compounds] in the air. These are areas that include noticeable smells of oil or visible oil and also any areas where the EPA monitoring system detects elevated levels. The EPA air monitoring results are being updated regularly at www.epa.gov/bpspill. To be cautious, pregnant women may choose to avoid any areas directly along the waterfront and beachfront, even when oil is not visible.”

That’s easy enough advice to follow for would-be Gulf Coast vacationers (as if there are any this season). But for pregnant women living near the spill zone – where oil and dispersants reenter the atmosphere after being burned off the water – avoiding chemical exposure is akin to turning a blind eye to the disaster itself.

Image: Hello Turkey Toe

Today in Hill/Street Greens, from the Hill…

Know what spells efficiency? A 6,200-word blog post that attempts to define efficiency.

This morning, the White House responded to criticisms that suggested it acted slowly to the Gulf oil disaster by posting an entry on its official blog. It’s more of a movie treatment, really, dutifully story-boarding what the government has done since the moment the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana on April 20th.

From the post, written by White House Deputy Homeland Security Advisor Heidi Avery:

Evening of Tuesday, April 20

Search and Rescue

The U.S. government response to the BP Oil Spill began immediately after the explosion on the night of April 20 as an emergency search-and-rescue mission. At approximately 10:30 p.m. that night, notification was received that Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) Deepwater Horizon had exploded and was on fire. The rig was located 45 miles southeast of Venice, LA.

Establish Command Center to Address Potential Environmental Impacts

Concurrently, the administration also quickly establishes a command center on the Gulf Coast to address the potential environmental impact of the event and to coordinate with all state and local governments. Since this point, the administration has continuously anticipated and planned for a worst-case scenario.

NOAA Mobilizes to Provide Trajectory Support

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) mobilizes within three hours of the explosion and started to provide trajectory support and coordinated scientific weather and biological response services. The NOAA weather forecast office in Slidell, LA., also provided weather information to the Coast Guard at its request shortly after the explosion to support initial search-and-rescue operations.

The President is Alerted

The President is alerted to the event and he begins actively monitoring the situation. At the time, it was known that 126 people were on the rig when the explosion occurred.

…and fade out.

The Obama administration has worked hard to beat the press and public relations clusterspill to the punch and address the impact and restoration of the disaster. Thus far, key members of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Interior, Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard have been deployed to Louisiana to help coordinate the response.

Then there’s the tough talk, a la Martin Scorsese. President Obama said this two days ago:

“Let me be clear. BP is responsible for this leak, BP will be paying the bill. But, as President of the United States, I’m going to spare no effort to respond to this crisis for as long as it continues. We will spare no resource to clean up whatever damage is caused. And while there will be time to fully investigate to find out what happened on that rig and hold responsible parties accountable, our focus now is on a fully coordinated, relentless response effort to stop the leak and prevent more damage to the Gulf.”

This hard-boiled rhetoric has that De Niro ring to it, doesn’t it? BP better pay-up on the environmental and economic debt this spill has caused – or else. Also, at several press briefings, President Obama has mentioned that the oil company will bear the full cost of the disaster. (And cue the price spike for gasoline in 3…2…1…)

Do you feel that the administration is still only providing a play-by-play from behind the scenes? Several criticisms suggest that it took the government over a week to label the spill as being of “national significance,” which green-lights more federally approved monies and personnel to respond to a crisis. Tell us what you think in the comments.

Editor’s Note: This is the latest installment in Christopher Correa’s weekly column, Hill/Street Greens, examining the environmental deeds (and misdeeds) of Washington, D.C. and Wall Street.

Image: U.S. Army Environmental Command

The nation’s retailers will tell you his message of change seems to make good cents. Americans are commemorating Barack Obama’s inauguration the American way, buying up feel-good items with the new leader’s image and slogans to show support.

The supply of Obama buttons, ball caps and Victory Plates peddled online and in city streets is barely meeting the demand, giving a boost to vendors who suffered a dreary holiday retail season.

One Washington lawyer who bought a T-shirt from the Presidential Inaugural Committee store told the New York Times, “America is excited about Obama so this all makes sense because when Americans want to express their excitement, they turn to merchandising.” Spotting $70 tote bags by Diane von Furstenberg and Tory Burch, the lawyer wondered if it could all be part of the stimulus program.

None of it appears to be organic, recycled or whittled from responsibly-planted forests, but from what I can tell, stuff sold at official sites like Store Barak Obama appears to be made in the USA, which I suppose is a start. We greenies can turn to sites like Say It Green to customize our own presidential products.

The upside to collecting the genuine political buttons, stamps and other memorabilia is an investment in the future. They could be worth a great deal some day as vintage memorabilia. And of course, they can be quite meaningful to Americans witnessing a day when we have, indeed, overcome so many biases and obstacles of the past.

If you are looking to buy into the message, you don’t have to travel far. The QVC television shopping network has already sold 100,000 items related to the election according to Dallas News. QVC sees today as a chance to hit a wider consumer audience – and will broadcast live from Washington to push pocket watches and other souvenirs. The host will not just display a flawless French manicure but also dress for success…in a ball gown.

I don’t think I will be whipping out my credit card. I am, however, reading Dreams of my Father, my book group’s current selection, to understand more about the struggles and successes that have shaped the 44th president. I can’t wear it or wave it or drink coffee from it, but in my mind, it’s a $15 well spent.

There’s nothing more serene than walking the beach with your children on a lovely day, picking up shells and digging holes in the sand. The flip side of the coin (or sand dollar in this case) is combing the shore for trash, something I did with another mom and three 4th graders as part of a school community service project.

It is downright shocking so many visitors to Ocean Beach in San Francisco in the year 2009 litter without a conscience, discarding their plastic ice coffee drink cups and paper napkins in the spot where they had spread their blankets to take in the natural beauty. They are leaving behind a carbon footprint in the sand.

As it turns out, the grassroots non-profit organization Surfrider Foundation regularly recruits volunteers for beach cleanups at Ocean Beach and elsewhere, including today, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. President-Elect Barack Obama and our future First Lady Michelle Obama have called for a national day of service. The organization’s San Francisco chapter of 1,200 members installed bio-bag dispensers in several locations of Ocean Beach last year to remind beach-goers to remove their dog waste and other trash.

Founded in 1984 by a handful of visionary surfers in Malibu, California, the Surfrider Foundation now maintains over 50,000 members and 80 chapters worldwide. Those members include surfers, environmentalists and fishermen looking to make a difference. It can be challenging at locations like Ocean Beach with 5 miles of shoreline and as many as 10,000 visitors daily on weekends.

That’s why early education is a big part of the process. The watch-wave group sponsors programs like Repect the Beach (RTB) to teach children coastal ecology through field trips, classroom lectures, videos and hand-on projects, conveying ocean environmentalism from the surfer’s perspective.

That perspective is clear in the organization’s Beach Manifesto, which addresses water quality and beach erosion, in addition to the need for cities with public beaches to provide adequate restrooms (Ocean Beach is clearly lacking this), and other amenities. The goal is to have these principles adopted by all levels of government.

Surfrider Beach Manifesto

• Beach access would be free and uninterrupted. You could get to the beach to check the surf or stick your toes in the sand at least every half-mile in urban areas. There would be adequate parking, restrooms, and other amenities. Money would be budgeted for the acquisition of coastal open space.
• You could surf or swim after it rains without the fear of getting sick, or at least know where it’s safe because a notice would be posted if the water quality were bad. You would know the locations of storm drains and sewer outfalls.
• Sand would flow freely to form surf breaks and beaches, and not be captured by dams, blocked by groins, or walled up behind seawalls. People would live far enough away from the shoreline that beach erosion would not be a problem. Beaches would be where and what they were naturally meant to be. As a result, we would not need to rely on beach fill and we would not need shoreline structures. It would be widely appreciated that beach ecology is as important as the ecology of the oceans. Sandy beaches would be recognized as diverse and productive systems, which serve as a critical link between marine and terrestrial environments.
• There would be no net loss of surfing areas, and all coastal recreation opportunities would be protected.
• Advances in technology would be used to make information readily available to the public, government officials, and scientists alike. Information would be presented in a way that is easily understood. All of us, not just a select few, would be able to participate in the decision-making process regarding our precious coastal resources.
• Beach access sites would be inventoried, surf zone water quality monitored, and beach erosion measured. Keeping track of these things would help to ensure that our Mother Ocean’s bounty is preserved for future generations.

Find out how to host or volunteer for a beach clean-up in your area. True, it’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.

Image: ercwttmn

It’s not just individuals who need to recharge their batteries and conserve energy these days, it’s families, communities, the whole country. And for thousands across America, a new way of living begins on Monday, January 19th, Martin Luther King, Jr. day. That’s the day Barack and Michelle Obama are asking every American to take part in a national day of service.

In this spirit, ecoAmerica has teamed up with Clean Tech for Obama and Green Business Leaders for Obama to create a simple but powerful service opportunity. It’s called ReCharge America.

Among many features, the website offers a simple 10-step toolkit that anyone can use to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save hundreds of dollars each year in energy costs. Here you’ll find tips about saving energy – and money – with lighting, heating, air conditioning, kitchen appliances, washers, dryers, water heaters, faucets, computers, home entertainment systems and heating vents. Cars also come under scrutiny. (The above video with Lisa Ling walks you through the 10 steps.)

Why is this the right time to reexamine how we live?

We spoke with Lisa Renstrom, former president of the Sierra Club and ReCharge America co-creator.

“In these tough economic times, why not get some money back just by being more energy efficient? We’re all looking to improve our budgets,” says Renstrom. “But we haven’t really tried to make our homes energy efficient. And once we do, we not only serve ourselves, we serve our country.”

National service may begin on Monday, but it can be woven into the fabric of the rest of our lives, says Renstrom.

“In my own experience, all of this is a journey. This home energy tune-up is about taking the first step. This is to get motivated, to take action, and then the next step naturally follows.”

The ReCharge initiative is also featured at the USAService site.

- with reporting by Peter Meech