It is still gushing. Today, June 24, Day 63. A portion of the gusher is being siphoned off, but tens of thousands of barrels of oil are still entering the water every day.

We don't know when it will finally be stopped. Update Aug 2, 2010. The gusher may be permanently stopped later today. We hope it goes well.

In the big picture, in the long run, let's rethink our thirst for oil. We can help prevent large and small events like this one:

Our personal lifestyles are connective to world oil demand, so reducing consumption really can help. But probably more important are our political actions.

Voting, and being vocal whenever possible can affect the governance - or lack of it - of industry. Testimony already before the US Congress, and overwhelming evidence already in the public sphere shows that this spill is mostly due to recklessness. We need to regulate, monitor, and enforce, a cautionary approach to all possibly environmentally damaging activities. And that takes political action - of which we are all capable.

Be involved.

[ Davidson photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/x180/sets /72157624175670303/ ]

More information in the comments.

Update / June 3 : Some birds are making it to the beach:

See the rest of that pictorial series at : http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html