Deepwater Horizon

Today, I have the honour of congratulating Greenpeace photographer Daniel Beltra on becoming the Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Daniel made his winning picture for Greenpeace, of oil-oaked brown pelicans at a temporary bird-rescue facility in Fort Jackson, Louisiana, while documenting the environmental impacts caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Another week, another push for reckless oil drilling by a UK company. This time it's BP, which wants to drill its deepest ever well in UK waters - a 1300 metre well - off the coast of North Uist.

Gulf Coast local Lamar Billups writes a poignant guest blog, via our US office:

First I would like to thank Greenpeace for allowing me the honor of writing a blog for the one-year anniversary of the BP oil disaster. You are the best, and, on behalf of the millions of people on the gulf, we thank you for the research and help you gave after us this spill.

I remember the first time I smelled the oil: I was at my son’s baseball game. Part way into the game everyone began to smell something like burning tires.