Almost one year after the BP spill and residents in the gulf are still dealing with the effects, their concerns ignored - all the while politicians fight for more drilling.  Now, a courageous group of residents and activists walked from Louisiana for Washington to protest the government inaction on the Road To Washington.

They arrived in D.C. yesterday and are calling for a meeting with the President. When corporations hold so much more power than ordinary folks like these, it's a strong reminder of the power of activist and grassroot efforts.

Treehugger writes: Matt Smith, Heather Rally, Gavin Garrison, Justin Daly, Lamar Billups of the nonprofit Project Gulf Impact, marched along with Drew Landey and Cherri Foytlin, two prominent residents of the region whose lives were irrevocably changed by the spill, in order to draw attention to the ongoing plight of the Gulf. The activists walked 1,243 miles over 31 days to make it to the nation's capitol.

According to the group's statement, which they released upon completing the long haul, they plan to "confront government officials on their home turf about the lack of action by Congress, the Administration and BP to support families and ecosystems affected by the BP oil drilling disaster in the Gulf in April 2010. The group will travel back to New Orleans on April 20th, the one-year anniversary of the oil rig blowout in the Gulf of Mexico."

For all intents and purposes, the march, which they've dubbed 'the Road to Washington' has been a great success -- the walk drew widespread media attention, and caught the eye of prominent senators and the EPA, who have asked to meet with the group in DC. In the video below, Foytlin, a mother of six whose husband was an oil rig worker in the Gulf, calls for a meeting with Obama himself.


 

 

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