Frequent oil spills threatening the lives of Magellanic penguins in South America
Oil spills are most definitely NOT green news. Unfortunately, they are exactly the opposite. Again, unfortunately, it seems that they are all too common off the coast of Argentina, which is causing problems for the local population of Magellanic penguins. Penguins need to be able to stay waterproof due to the fact that they enter and exit the water in frigid temperatures regularly. When the oil gets on the birds, they no longer have the protection that they need to survive the cold temperatures in which they live. Forty of the birds were rescued from the water and cleaned up. They should be back to their natural habitat "in about 15 days or so."
Hearing news like this, electric cars sound better and better all the time. Plus, if one were able to use solar or wind power, maybe the need to import and export so much oil would be decreased. The shipping and consequent occasional spilling of oil is another reason that locally grown petroleum substitutes like biodiesel are important. Just think of the penguins.
[Source: Live Science]
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