Davey and the GOM Giant Oil Monster

James Bud Bottoms, authors of the Kid Ethics series of children s books, has now written and illustrated Davey and the GOM (Giant Oil Monster). The idea for this book came about after January 28, 1969 when an oil well blew out on a drilling platform in the Santa Barbara Channel. Millions of gallons of crude oil erupted from the ocean floor and spread into a gigantic poisonous slick for dozens of miles along the Southern California coast. People massed at the polluted beaches to try and save the oil soaked birds and mammals. Their outrage at the destruction of their environment became the ecological shot heard round the world. Bud then co-founded Get Oil Out (GOO) which was a grass roots movement that helped to spark the Environmental Revolution. That was almost four decades ago, and since then the Giant Oil Monster has lived on and grown bigger, contributing to global warming. Unless we replace the use of crude oil for energy with an alternative like solar and bio fuels, we will destroy our living environment and our own children s future. Like the Biblical story of David and Goliath, we, as Davey, must overcome the GOM. To commemorate the anniversary of that infamous day in history, Davey and the GOM has been released in the hope that children and their families everywhere will join efforts to clean up our environment before it is too late.