Gulf Coast oil spill: just a reminder

(Image by Flickr user Deepwater Horizon Response (cc:by-nd))

The real environmental disaster isn't in the Gulf Coast, according to environmentalist Bill McKibben. It's happening all around us.

This story was originally covered by PRI's The Takeaway. For more, listen to the audio above.

The thousands of barrels of oil that are spilling into the Gulf Coast are a disaster, but it's just a reminder of the havoc being wreaked on the environment every day.

"You can't see it, it's not ugly and black," McKibben told PRI's The Takeaway, "but there's an invisible spill pouring into our atmosphere every day doing the same kind of damage."

Even if the Deepwater Horizon oil rig had worked perfectly, and the oil had been shipped safely to the United States and used as fuel in American cars, it still would have been a disaster. The real issue at hand, according to McKibben, is "the ongoing destruction of the stable climate."

Instead of focusing on the havoc that the BP oil spill is wreaking on the Gulf Coast, McKibben urges people to remember how filthy fossil fuels in general are, "and how we desperately need to speed up the effort to get off of it."

"The Takeaway" is a national morning news program, delivering the news and analysis you need to catch up, start your day, and prepare for what's ahead. The show is a co-production of WNYC and PRI, in editorial collaboration with the BBC, The New York Times Radio, and WGBH.

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