It has been one year since the BP oil spill, and students haven’t forgotten.

Students from environmental groups on campus participated in a protest Wednesday at Tate to commemorate the anniversary of the BP oil spill. Photo by Sara Caldwell | The Red & Black

Students marched around the Tate Student Center Wednesday with a train of black trash bags and signs featuring phrases such as, “Do not leave pumps unattended, you are responsible for spills,” to commemorate the anniversary of the spill.

The idea for the trash bags came from Florida Gulf Coast University students who used a tarp to represent oil in a protest six months after the spill.

“We are trying to get the word out that there are still issues left from the oil spill,” said Amy Fleshman, an ecology major from Marietta.

Among shouts of “One year today, make BP pay,” students from groups such as the Go Green Alliance and the Ecology Club marched to show their continued support in cleaning up the damage left by the oil spill.

“Just because media coverage declines does not mean that the problem is over,” Fleshman said.

According to information given at the rally, BP did not pay taxes and the executives received bonuses with their paychecks. The money evaded in taxes — which supposedly reached around $10 million — would be enough to fund the Environmental Protection Agency.

“BP should step up and pay for what they did,” Fleshman said. “Everyone else pays taxes, why shouldn’t they?”

Protestors urged people to think in the long-run and be conscious of how the past’s problems affect the future.

“We value our future over short-term profits but, clearly, BP does not have those same values,” said Heather Hatzenbuhler, an international affairs major from Suwanee.

The protestors also called on the government to create a cleaner, greener nation.

“We are calling for clean energy, a clean and just energy economy, and clean and just jobs,” Hatzenbuhler said. “People should not have to choose between their health and supporting their families.”