If people were covered in oil right now rather than animals, do you think we'd be seeing the mass floods of busing down to the Gulf to help to aid in the recovery like we saw in Katrina?

It's actually a valuable lesson. Because the net devastation in the Gulf is probably economically comparable to Katrina. Yet, it's harder to understand indirect costs.

In order to get attention, you need to visualize it. Drench a baby in oil and watch a whole new wave of sympathy come flooding in.