Opinions and Letters

Sylvia Earle Speaks for the Ocean and She Speaks for Me - Congressional Testimony

Sylvia Earle Speaks for the Ocean and She Speaks for Me - Congressional Testimony

This outstanding diary entry at dailyKos quotes, in full, the recent testimony before the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the US House of Representatives on May 19.  Ellinoreianne adds her own commentary and pictures that add power to Dr. Earle's words.  I highly recommend it.

National Geographic also covered the testimony, since Dr. Earle is their "Explorer in Residence.  The NatGeo Newswatch report is also worth reading.  

Introducing Earle to the hearing, Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar, Democrat-Minnesota, said he had read her testimony (published in full below) and found it to be "positively lyrical" and reminiscent of Lord Byron's poetry about the ocean. "I am enthralled by your love of the ocean," he said.  "I really come to speak for the ocean," Earle said at the start of her remarks. "You are the only voice for the ocean that we will hear," Oberstar said when she had read her statement, adding that her testimony was "moving and compelling.

This disaster is huge, and growing. We can't tell, today, what the eventual extent of environmental and economic destruction may be.  Dr. Earle's testimony gives a hint of the cost we are paying in the pursuit of cheaper gasoline.

"The Gulf of Mexico is not, as some believe, an industrial wasteland, valuable primarily as a source of petrochemicals and a few species of ocean wildlife that humans exploit for food, commodities, and recreational fishing. These are assets worth protecting as if our lives depend on them, because in no small measure, they do," Earle said. "The Gulf of Mexico is a living laboratory, America's Mediterranean, a tri-national treasure better known for yielding hurricanes, petrochemicals, shrimp and, in recent years, notorious 'dead zones,' than for its vital role in generating oxygen, taking and holding carbon, distributing nutrients, stabilizing temperature, yielding freshwater to the skies that returns as rain--contributing to the ocean's planetary role as Earth's life support system," Earle added

I urge you to read Dr. Earle's full testimony.  I'll post video if I can locate it.

Link to C-SPAN coverage of the hearing

Wanda Schwerer

 

Cllinton Foundation - Earth Day Action!

From a email from the Clilnton Foundation:

When it comes to saving our planet for future generations, we all have the best intentions. But in order to chart a new course on climate, we must turn those good intentions into action -- and it begins with each of us taking initiative in our own homes and communities. Today, you can help fight climate change with a small but meaningful step: Take the Clinton Foundation's new climate quiz before Earth Day, April 22, and $2 will be donated toward the purchase of solar flashlights for Haitians living in camps, providing them with energy-efficient light and helping to enhance their safety and security. Take the climate quiz -- and take initiative for the people of Haiti. If, together, we can get 100,000 people to take this quiz, we can send 20,000 solar, energy-efficient flashlights to Haitians displaced from their homes by the devastating January earthquake. Every one of us can make a difference in addressing global problems and improving the lives of others. This idea is at the core of the Clinton Foundation's work, on Earth Day and every day, as we work with cities around the world to increase energy-efficiency and decrease greenhouse gas emissions in ways that lift local economies. But you can take action from your own home by testing your knowledge of climate change, and $2 will go toward the purchase of solar flashlights for Haiti. Thank you for joining us in our fight against climate change, and in the process, helping the people of Haiti in their time of need. Sincerely, President Bill Clinton

courtesy of Kathleen Jamison