In the game of politics being played around the Gulf oil spill — the cause, the response, who’s the blame, where to drill next — it’s the wildlife that stands to lose the most.

With mid-term elections closing in, politicians are out doing their hand-shaking, baby-kissing thing. They’re also collecting campaign contributions, including nearly $14 million contributed so far, just to the 2010 election cycle, by the oil and gas industry. That kind of money says Don’t forget us when you’re in office. Unfortunately, wildlife doesn’t have the luxury of buying loyalty from representatives. That’s why Defenders of Wildlife is calling on Congress to donate all oil company campaign contributions to help save wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.

Some people argue that oiled birds are better off dead because it takes so many resources to clean, rehabilitate and release — as much as tens of thousands of dollars per bird — and then many of them don’t even make it. But if I had to choose between throwing millions of dollars at that effort, or funding my representatives’ campaigns, my vote would be on the wildlife. Every time.

But it’s not just the birds and other animals showing up covered in oil that need help; the disaster threatens the survival of entire species. Earlier this week, a batch of critically endangered baby Kemp’s ridley sea turtles was released into the Gulf of Mexico. Todd Steiner, director of the Turtle Island Restoration Network, thinks it was a mistake. “We believe they’re going to get into the oil and die.”

How long could it take before the waters are healthy again for marine life? Well, 20 years after the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, oil is still impacting wildlife in the area.

The Center for Biological Diversity has filed its sixth oil-related lawsuit against the government this week, and plans to file at least two more. They’re calling for a new analysis on the impact of offshore drilling on endangered whales and sea turtles because the last report said that drilling really didn’t pose much of a threat to wildlife. Miyoko Sakashita, the Center’s oceans director said, “Like Obama’s April 2 statement that ‘oil rigs today generally don’t cause spills’ … the government must revisit its slipshod analysis that oil drilling poses no risk to the Gulf’s endangered species.”

Instead of fueling politics with money from Big Oil, our government should be focusing on restoring the Gulf and protecting wildlife from corporate interests. Tell your representatives and senators to donate any and all campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry to support local Gulf charities working to save wildlife. Now is the time for government officials to start doing the right thing.

Photo credit: LDWF Biologist Rescues Oiled Sea Turtle

Congress Should Donate Oil Company Campaign Contributions to Save Gulf Wildlife