- 6,000,000: The number of gallons of oil that spilled in the first week.
- 840,000: The number of gallons that spill a day.
- 42,000: The number of gallons of oil per day that BP said were leaking.
- 11,000,000: The number of gallons of oil that spilled from the Exxon Valdez
- 20,600,000: The estimated number of gallons of oil that have spilled in the gulf as of May 10 (today)
- 8: The number of Gulf of Mexico's fishing ports that rank among the top 20 in the nation by $.
- $10,000,000,000: the value of Florida's recreational/commercial saltwater fishing industry
- 150,000: The number of jobs in Florida's recreational/commercial saltwater fishing industry.
- $75,000,000: The official legal cap on damages that BP can be held to for economic problems like lost wages or dwindling tourist dollars.
- $10,000,000,000: The amount that some members of Congress want to hold BP accountable for.
Make you mad? Do something about it. Donate to these documentarians (named Deep Water Films) - one of whom is my sister in law - to help fund their film (I just donated $30, but you can donate any amount you choose).
If you too want to switch our nation's energy diet to clean, renewable energy, then spreading awareness of the hazards of oil consumption is step number 1.
Now here's a graphic representation of what caused the disaster in the first place (download it to see larger here: Download Oil-cause-050710