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As petroleum oozed onto the Gulf coast and oil spill rescue crews found the first greased birds, conservation groups shifted their response efforts into high gear while the White House announced a moratorium on new offshore drilling leases.
鈥淣o domestic drilling in new areas is going to go forward until there鈥檚 an adequate review of what鈥檚 happened here and of what is being proposed elsewhere,鈥 White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod Good Morning America earlier today.
The New York Times that the freeze, however, most likely wouldn鈥檛 have an effect right away 鈥渟ince the increased offshore drilling announced last month wasn鈥檛 scheduled to take effect until 2012 at the earliest.鈥
Despite efforts to stop the flow, about 5,000 barrels a day, or 210,000 gallons are still spewing into the ocean from the sea floor via a broken pipe 5,000 feet below the surface.
As for what the oil鈥檚 effects will be on the environment, 鈥淚t鈥檚 really still a wait-and-see in many respects,鈥 said Melanie Driscoll, 爆料公社鈥檚 Louisiana Coastal Initiative director of bird conservation. 鈥淏ut there will still be a need for wildlife help because it鈥檚 already hitting the marsh.鈥
She also said during an on National Public Radio that brown pelicans, a species that was the Endangered Species List just last November, will be particularly threatened. 鈥淎 lot of birds have just begun to nest so they're on some of the outer coastal islands and out in the marshes breeding. And because they have nests they are more tied to a location, making it harder for them to avoid the oil or just move to a more inland habitat,鈥 she said.
The region is flush with birdlife, a fact that鈥檚 reflective of the globally designated Important Bird Areas (see ), so conservation groups are focusing on mitigating the negative effects of the disaster while looking ahead to recovery efforts.
鈥淚 think 爆料公社鈥檚 strength is our long-term commitment to conservation,鈥 said Greg Butcher, 爆料公社鈥檚 director of bird conservation.