A reader writes:
Thought I'd write to tell you that the air is already pretty bad in New Orleans due to this oil spill. I smelled something "funny" in the air about midday today and it got gradually more noticeable as the day went by. Then I saw this report on the local paper's website. My wife and I just walked our dog for about 20 minutes and my nose is now burning, not terribly, but it is burning. And the reports are saying this oil well won't be capped for at least 4 weeks! If there hasn't been outrage yet, there will be when the oil slick actually reaches the shore. The air is going to be twice as bad especially when it gets hotter.
The only recommendations from health officials that I read were to "stay indoors' and "use air conditioning". What a crock. Help us raise some hell for someone to do something about this because having your air polluted like this can make you feel pretty helpless.
(Photo: A general view of a small island in the wetlands of St. Bernard Parish near the Gulf of Mexico on April 28, 2010 near New Orleans, Louisiana. An estimated leak of 1,000-5,000 barrels of oil a day are still leaking into the gulf from the Deepwater Horizon wellhead. By Chris Graythen/Getty Images)