Sophia Bush & Austin Nichols fight to raise awareness to B.P. oil spill disaster!

Bush & Nichols took video & photos from the Gulf./Photo by Fred Norris

Actors Sophia Bush and Austin Nichols do not just hold leading roles on One Tree Hill, but more importantly, in helping the environment as well. The CW stars traveled to the Gulf Coast this week as a part of a powerful quest along with Global Green to bring further awareness on the impact of the B.P. oil spill there.

Bush and Nichols have taken to Twitter to grab the attention of their fans to help them get the word out on the disastrous situation.

“Our goal here is we started Twitter accounts basically for the sole reason to reach as many of our fans as possible, young kids and not so young kids, that don't know what's going on”, said Nichols when he and Bush called from New Orleans in the midst of their work there with Global Green. “We've had all these messages from Italy, and Brazil ,and Australia, from people saying that they're not covering this down there and our tweets are the only information they're getting about the oil spill”, he added.

There was no uncertainty of Nichols' and Bush's frustration and outrage as they spoke about the lack of awareness being brought to the oil spill. Bush says she is appalled by the measures B.P. is taking to keep their actions from reaching the public.

“Out on the beaches are all the people that are contract hired by B.P. that are so scared to talk to us that as soon as we walked over they hid their badges and they asked us to leave. We told them legally we didn't have to leave. But basically what they do is they threaten you to get off the beach, to turn of your camera, they flash their sheriff lights at you and they make you feel as if you're going to get arrested”, says Bush. “We had a lawyer with us who immediately started citing legal reasons why we were not allowed to be kicked off the beach and they let up and they were so angry. They know that they're doing something illegal and they don't want people to see it”, she says.

Nichols is just as enraged by what he sees as B.P. covering its own tracks. “When we got to the beach we were told it was a crime scene. The four-wheelers came with their red and green lights screaming at us to turn off our cameras. There's 4,000 miles of coast in Louisiana alone and it's all a crime scene and B.P. is policing its own crime scene”, he says. “On the beach, there were groups cleaning up and we asked if we could help and they won't let anybody help”, adds Nichols. “Everyone's hands are tied. B.P. won't let anybody do anything. The people cleaning up were afraid to speak to us. It was literally like Grand Isle was occupied. It was really eerie and really scary. When you have this many people just volunteering to help and they're turned away, it's just ridiculous.”

Something else Nichols says they found as ridiculous was what he and Bush discovered when they toured the inland waterways where the marshes are located. “We went to a bird sanctuary called Queen Bless Island. There are two systems of barrier boom, and this boom is completely ineffective”, he says. “It's a few feet deep and the oil just goes under it and over it. It doesn't do anything to block oil from hitting the shoreline. You see images on TV of these booms and I think they give people a false sense of security. There's oil all over the shoreline where the bird sanctuary is.”

What Bush and Nichols shared with me of what they have been witnessing and learning about the effects of the oil spill on the Gulf is horrifying to say the least. It's the reason Bush says B.P. is attempting to prevent awareness. “They don't want to bring awareness at all because the more that we see and the more that we are witnessed to, the more B.P. is held accountable. B.P. has a monetary number for every gallon of oil that they leak, every bird that they kill, every dolphin, every sea turtle, every animal that dies increases their physical liability, so they don't want us to see what's going on”, says Bush.

“We actually spoke to a rescue worker who said that they were out on a Barge, and B.P. is now burning off surface oil saying 'We'll set it on fire and that's how we're going to get it out of the ocean'. They were burning between two big Barges and these rescue workers were watching turtles swim in between these Barges and asking B.P. to wait so they could take a boat into this water, pull the turtles out before they lit the fire, and B.P. said no. And they burned a sea turtle alive in front of a rescue worker! And that's because that turtle now can't count as evidence”, says Bush, clearly infuriated by B.P.'s actions.

“The more people witness a crime the more likely the crime is to be convicted in court. This is true of any crime that can be committed against a human being. And this is a crime. And we are allowing the people who perpetuated the crime to clean up their own crime scene. To destroy evidence that would convict them. And it's never been done and we're letting it happen”, she says. “And I am mad as hell!”

What most angers and heartbreaks Bush and Nichols are the ways the families and local businesses have been suffering due to the oil spill. “The most devastating thing is that this entire part of the world is probably going to become a ghost town”, Nichols says. “All these people are going to have to find new ways to support themselves and their families. All these homes are going to be decrepit and empty”, he says on what is becoming of Grand Isle.

There was no question of Bush's devastation on the diminishing life of the Louisiana coast as she spoke about the impact the oil spill has had on the families. “Locals down here have been in the fishing business for generations. This is their family. This is their tradition. This is their culture. And basically what's happening down here is a lot of people are comparing to what we did to the Native Americans a long time ago, we are eradicating a culture that might never ever be able to come back and it is devastating”, Bush says with an immense amount of emotion in her voice. “It is so hard to keep from crying when you're looking at these people who look at you and say 'What are we supposed to do? This is our life. This is what I do. This is what my father did. This is what my father's father did. How are we going to feed our kids? We don't ever buy anything at the grocery store'. Most often when you come down here and a family fixes you a meal, the only thing they'll have bought is wine because they fish everyday. They grow their own vegetables. This is a self-sustained beautiful community. And it's not just here. It's not just outside of New Orleans and the Grand Isle, it's the gulf coast and I think that's why we were so appalled at being in Grand Isle yesterday”, she says. “Every single fisherman and woman and child in this town is sitting at home waiting to be told they can do something”.

Nichols agrees the stories they have been hearing from the fishermen who rely on the fish to provide for their families are what are most catastrophic. He shared the story of a local fisherman who is now struggling to feed his family. “He showed us photographs of all the fish he catches to feed his family. He's been a fisherman for many many years and as of this week he and the other people we spoke to are broke”, he says. “People have received one check, and the first check was meager. A lot of people haven't gotten anything. People are just heartbroken”.

Heartbroken indeed. Nichols and Bush captured photos of upside down flags being flown at half mass and posted them on their Twitter accounts to show how the locals are putting up symbols of SOS and 'surrender'. “People down here feel like they're being attacked so they're putting up surrender flags, like you guys win”, says Nichols.

“It's devastating and they may never be able to come back here”, Bush says with great concern. “Best case scenario they'll be able to re-plant oyster beds in five years, but what are all those people gonna do for five years? They can't just not work. They're going to have to leave this place and this place is their life. It's not right. And they know. That's the main point, is that these people know that they are committing a crime and they are trying to keep us away.”

“They have military down here on Grand Isle, with big trucks, and military boats every where basically trying to scare people into leaving, 'oh the military has got it, B.P.'s got it.' None of these people have it!”, she says.

It is a great thing people like Bush and Nichols are so incredibly passionate about increasing awareness and aid to the disaster. As they believe, the more information they put out, the more can be done to resolve the issue. “We're going to keep posting and we're going to keep tweeting”, Bush emphasizes.

Nichols says they will continue their efforts to help anyway they can. “If we can reach anybody, we're happy with that.” Bush adds the impacts from this oil spill should be the light bulb switch turning on to the country about the importance of being more eco-friendly. “This is a wake up call to our government and our nation to realize that the way that we live and the way that we treat the planet is unacceptable. And we all have to make changes”, Bush stresses.

Changes Nichols says can be made with even the smallest effort. “Any little bit helps. Any little humble contribution is valuable”.

There is no doubt Bush and Nichols' attempts are valuable and eye-opening. As Bush tells me, they have brought unknown information to even the Gulf's local news media. “The thing that's really sad is one of the local reporters from the news outlets here said 'Oh I'm so glad you guys are here, you know so much more about this', and I said sir you have got to get the word out. You have got to follow all the major news outlets. You have got to let the people here know what's really going on.”

Bush and Nichols believe the major solution to this disaster is the further spread of knowledge on it.

“People have to know and people have to be angry”, says Bush. “People have to stand up and shout and scream until the government listens to us.”

To get the government to listen, Bush and Nichols encourage people to sign the 'Global Green Petition to President Obama'.

For more information about how you can help, check out Global Green's official website. Follow its president Matthew Peterson on Twitter @Matthew_Peterson.

Photos from Gulf Coast are courtesy of Austin Nichols and Sophia Bush.

Read here about the other ways Sophia Bush & Austin Nichols give back as they spoke to me about their USO Tour and more last winter!

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 For continuous coverage from Sophia Bush and Austin Nichols, follow them on Twitter: @SophiaBush & @AUS10NICHOLS.