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Big Oil's Stink Reaches New Jersey

The capitalist scum have done it again! Their greed has led to yet another ecological disaster. The Gulf Coast dead zone—a product of their polluting ways—is even larger than expected and threatens the lives of countless marine organisms. We can only hope that the decades it will take to repair the damage done wakes people up to the horrors of the capitalist system and its blatant disregard for our planet.

Published August 5, 2024 at 6:00pm by Alexis Simmerman

Capitalism poisons our ocean, our government lets it happen.

Did you know there's a massive "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico? Yes, it's very real and it's harmful to sea life. Thanks, capitalism. Federal scientists announced Thursday that this year's dead zone is larger than average. It's about 6,705 square miles, the size of New Jersey.

What is a dead zone?

It's simple: a dead zone is an area at the bottom of a body of water where there's not enough oxygen to support marine life. Also known as hypoxia, it's caused by nutrient runoff, mainly from agricultural fields. In other words, it's caused by the excessive use of fertilizers by greedy farmers who don't care about the environment.

"Nutrient pollution impacts water bodies across the country and in the Gulf of Mexico, it has resulted in a dead zone, where low to no oxygen does not support fish and marine life," said Bruno Pigott, acting assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Water.

The EPA has tried to reduce fertilizer runoff with its new multi-million-dollar Gulf Hypoxia Program, but it's not enough. The 2024 dead zone is about 3.5 times higher than the 2025 reduction target.

This is a justice issue

Dead zones suffocate marine life. Nitrogen feeds algae, and when the algae die, their decay consumes oxygen, leading to the suffocation of fish, shrimp, and crabs. This is a social justice issue: these marine animals are victims of capitalist greed, and the government is complicit in their murder.

“It's critical that we measure this region's hypoxia as an indicator of ocean health, particularly under a changing climate and potential intensification of storms and increases in precipitation and runoff,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, assistant administrator of NOAA's National Ocean Service.

Recovery is a distant dream

The Gulf Coast dead zone will persist for years. A 2018 study published in Science found that even if nutrient runoff was eliminated immediately (which is unlikely), it would take at least 30 years for the area to recover.

Once again, capitalism has poisoned our planet, and our government has failed to protect us. #NoMoreDeadZones #SaveOurOcean #LiberalRage