Thank you for your invitation to sing the BP Blues, at the rally against the moratorium on July 21 here in Lafayette. I really want to help the people of Louisiana. My main main concern is for the safety of fishermen, oil workers, and citizens along the Gulf Coast. We are in a state of emergency…. after almost 3 month of oil spilling into the Gulf, clean-up workers are still not allowed to use respirators. Citizens are moving out of the lower parishes with breathing problems. I’ve been on the coast since BP showed up, and I know from my own experience that sometimes I have trouble breathing while on the water – oil is burning, dispersants are being sprayed, and there’s no way to know way to know to what effect. We don’t know if the air we are breathing is safe.

Simply put, Divided we fall- It’s time to unite.. I will play free of charge if one of the rally’s sponsors will fund the rental air quality testing machines for Venice & Grand Isle for the next two months – machines to be operated and monitored independently by local citizens. This first step will show a good faith commitment on the part of oil companies and our State government – giving citizens more information toward informed decisions about their health.

When I’m not playing music, I also enjoy spending time in the Atchafalaya Basin. Currently, my crawfish co-op is in litigation with oil companies that dug canals across the Basin. The spoil banks keep the water from flowing through and leave us with traps full of dead crawfish. On the other hand, much of my family works in the oil field. As you well know our state economy is facing the same fate as our fragile ecosystem.

Much like Katrina, the White House & the Governors Mansion are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, My old National Guard Unit is deployed, and more scary the state emergency fund is tapped. Without cooperation with the federal government I fear our citizens will again suffer the brunt of partisanship.

After playing a gig in New Orleans in late April, I went to Venice to volunteer. I got there the first day BP set foot on our soil. Since then I have documented the plight of fishermen from Cameron Parish to Florida. In my eyes, it’s the burden of oil companies to ensure the safety of employees and the job of our state to ensure the safety of our people on the coast. That’s why I want these air monitoring machines. As important as jobs are to our people, their health and safety is more important.

I look forward to hearing from you soon. Like I told the members of the Presidential Commission last week- Do the right damn thing.

Drew