Klobuchar Warns About Migration Disaster
Amy Klobuchar, U.S. Senator from Minnesota, has given a strong warning about the way in which the terrible oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico threatens to affect large numbers of a certain sort of residents of her state. How can Minnesota residents be affected by the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling disaster?
It’s all about migration. Senator Klobuchar explained,
“We have seen the pelicans drenched with oil hobbling on the beaches. We have seen all that. But what we have not seen yet – and we have no idea of the extent of the problem yet – is what is going to happen to the 13 million migratory birds, waterfowl coming from Minnesota, coming from Wisconsin, that winter in the gulf coast in those marshes.
At first, no one, understandably, focused on the unsettling proposition that millions of birds that winter in the gulf every fall and winter will be faced with toxic shorelines and toxic marshes, but as the oil laps up on the shore, we have to face this unacceptable but real problem right now…
…In just a few weeks, we must be ready for the mass influx of ducks and birds in the gulf region. If we fail to prepare, countless unsuspecting birds, wildlife, will not return to Minnesota and our ecosystems and economies will feel the impact, not just in Minnesota but throughout the country; not just in Louisiana, not just in Florida. It will spread. We will continue to push, with the recovery efforts, to make sure there is adequate focus on this important issue.”
