BP Oil Disaster Threatens Cuba
Like you, we are horrified at the seemingly unstoppable BP oil spill -- and at the images on the nightly news of scary underwater plumes, distraught fisherman, and doomed wildlife. But our concerns about this disaster have focused mainly on the wetlands of Lousiana and the Florida beaches.
We forget there's another victim in this disaster: Cuba.
Massive amounts of oil could get into what's known as the loop current and reach Cuba's north coast beaches. Some analysts say that, alternately, it could flow directly to Cuba's northern coast even before it reaches the Florida Keys.
"The Florida Strait is very narrow," researcher Yonggang Liu of the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science told Associated Press. "The local wind effect could bring the oil across the strait to Cuba.
Cuba's beaches lie 480 miles south fo the Deepwater Horizon platform, which exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and releasing into the Gulf of Mexico the greatest U.S. enviromental disaster on record.
The big question for Washington policy makers is whether they really care.
The resounding need is for proactive planning by the two governments. But that kind of cooperation is something Washington is hardly known for. Thankfully, the State Department is at least briefing Havana on U.S. efforts to control the spill.
Ongoing, "workin-level" talks with Cuba and other Caribbean isalnds are happening, State spokemen have told the media.
How telling that it takes a crisis of these proportions -- the BP disaster -- to bring the U.S. to the table with Cuba. If only we can keep this spirit of coperation goin all the way -- to end the emabrgo and normalize U.S.-Cuba relations.
That way, our nations can work together to oslve not just issues of the enviroment but issues of poverty and open travel and trade.
Current legislation that can move us toward normalization has strong chance for passage this month.
Show your support by contacting your member of Congress!
