April 29, 2010

Oil Spill Goes From Bad to Worse

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I haven’t verified these numbers myself, but the friend who sent them to me is a trustworthy sort. Experts now estimate that five times more oil has been spilling into the water from that oil rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana than they thought before:

Okay. Here’s how much they estimated was leaking before this evening: 42,000 gallons a day.

Five times that amount means approximately 210,000 gallons a day have been leaking into the Gulf.

If this spill continues unabated for two months — and that seems to be the most likely time frame at this point — we’re talking about 12.6 million gallons.

Exxon Valdez? That was 10.8 million.

Enjoy your evening.

But even that might be low. SkyTruth.org estimates that the spill rate is 20 times higher than initial estimates and that 6 million gallons of oil have already spilled into the Gulf. An Exxon Valdez size spill might only be a few days away.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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