Check out my latest article written for the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. It’s an exploration of the stress and trauma that Gulf residents may be experiencing in light of the ongoing oil spill / environmental catastrophe.
Here’s a bit:
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and burst into flames, killing eleven workers and injuring another seventeen. Since then, oil has been spilling into the Gulf of Mexico at the rate of at least tens of thousands of barrels per day and sweeping past booms to hit marshlands and beaches in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and beyond.
The media coverage has been constant, and for the eighth week in a row, news of the spill has dominated headlines. As a nation, we are transfixed by the accounts and images of the continuing spill, of unemployed fishermen and oil workers, of oil-soaked pelicans and other dying wildlife. There is a sense of mourning over this man-made environmental catastrophe and the possible death of a gorgeous area of our natural world. Some are calling for boycotts of British Petroleum and a halt to offshore drilling; others are taking a hard look at our oil-dependent way of life.
