Rocky Kistner, a communications associate in NRDC’s Washington, D.C., office, discusses some of the residents of the Gulf Coast area whose stories haven't been widely publicized since the oil spill changed the entire region's way of life. (See "Free the Mississippi.")

After the BP oil spill, NRDC opened a Gulf Resource Center in Buras, Louisiana, Ryan Lambert’s hometown. What are some of the main concerns of the people you’ve met there?

People are still angry with BP and the government for running a confusing and at times slipshod cleanup operation and for not providing full employment and compensation to everyone impacted by the blowout. The financial pressures are mounting on those whose claims were denied. There were times when fishermen had to rely on neighbors to buy them gas for their trucks and boats and to deliver food to those who had none. Many residents have health concerns about the effects of the oil, and medical attention in parts of the bayou is severely lacking. Most fishermen are just trying to make it through the winter, praying that spring brings a normal fishing and shrimping season. But a lot of them aren’t very optimistic.

Fishermen have been living side by side with the oil and gas industry for decades. Have their feelings about it changed?

One of the great disconnects for me when I arrived last May was how fishermen could live comfortably in the midst of the maze of oil and gas platforms and pipelines in the Gulf. For many locals, the BP blowout was a wake-up call to the dangers. Support for the industry remains strong, but there is a growing skepticism about its real value and a concern about its impact. People used to put up with small spills all the time. Now some are questioning whether the industry is worth it. Many fishermen support the findings of the presidential commission on the spill, including the recommendation for tighter safety measures. A few are even talking about shutting down the industry and moving to clean energy, which was unheard of before the disaster.

Are the rest of us getting the full story about what’s happening in the Gulf today?

Most Americans are still unaware of the environmental damage and financial and health stresses. Thanks to the massive PR campaigns by BP and local governments to attract visitors to the Gulf, many people think everything is back to normal. Nothing could be further from the truth. Underwater oil is still washing onto the beaches and into the marshes from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle. Fortunately, through our Gulf Resource Center we’ve been able to get national media attention via our blogs and our StoryCorps partnership with Bridge the Gulf, a local storytelling initiative. But the story is far from over.