Take the Shark Fin Soup Pledge and Pass it on

Somewhere in the vast oceans a ship is hauling in sharks. Somewhere someone is slicing off fins with a dark, sharp knife. Somewhere dead sharks are tossed over the side of a weathered boat with freshly finned gashes glistening red.

Somewhere rows and rows of steel gray shark fins are drying on a dock waiting to be sold. Somewhere a middleman shoves a fistful of cash into his pocket and grins. Somewhere someone is slurping up shark fin soup, hoping so and so will notice their importance and affluence.

It's easy to feel helpless in the face of all this.

Now you can take action thanks to Shark Savers and Wild Aid.

Killing 73 million sharks a year mainly for soup -- that's the poster child for abuse of the natural world. Healthy oceans need this apex predator. 

Pledge to NOT eat shark fin soup. And pass it on.

If you know anyone in China, where much of the demand for shark fin soup lives, or if you know anyone who owns/works/frequents Chinese restaurants, send the pledge to them. The pledge is bi-lingual and takes about 4.5 seconds to complete.

Take the Pledge.

Energy Independence Now

The headline today is that oil prices are rising because of political turmoil thousands of miles away. The stock market is tumbling. Just what Americans need while still recovering from the recession, trying to pay bills, put food on the table, and stay employed.

Can't we see that we're hostages to big oil? They have their fat, sweaty fingers clasped around our economic and national security necks.

Imagine if we did not have to live like this. If we had other ways to run our cars and our economy. This is what energy independence is all about.

How do we free ourselves? Get off the petroleum economy and embrace a clean energy economy. Don't listen to the ominous sounds from those who make money off petroleum, or the politicians who stuff their wallets with big oil's dirty money.

Focus our patriotism on helping America establish a renewable energy economy, one that includes jobs and our legacy of innovation. 

There will be growing pains, it will not happen overnight, but America needs to move as fast as possible to a renewable energy economy for so many good reasons. We can do it.

Sullied

Fishermen Look to Hook Offshore Wind

Fishermen building offshore wind farms would be a great story on many levels if were true. Turns out it is.

Fisherman's Energy of New Jersey recently took the next step -- petitioned for permits from the state -- toward building six turbines in the waters off Atlantic City to generate 25 megawatts.  That's enough to power about 25,000 homes, according to Yahoo Answers.

If that seems like a drop in the bucket, remember we have to start somewhere. It is powerfully symbolic as well as a step in  the right direction. Every step we take away from a petroleum economy and toward a clean energy future is a good one (as long as it is sustainable).

And the story is a good one. "I remember when Fishermen's Energy first came forward. All these big-name, well-connected energy companies were presenting plans, and more than a few eyebrows were raised when fishermen - fishermen! - submitted a plan as well. They said that they wanted to expand their harvest from the ocean. They wanted not just fish, but wind," according to Sandy Bauers of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

There's something simply...cool about fishermen netting the wind. Sailors would be a good, natural group, too, as they already harness the wind. 

Read more here.

Image: gameartisans.org

Trust in a Name?

Sometimes the challenge does not come from the faceless and nameless minions consuming unsustainable seafood or busy being addicted to petroleum. Sometimes it's all in a name.

In particularly devious fashion, the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans (PSO) hides their real motives and goals behind a name that implies they care about healthy oceans. At least that's what some respectable conservationists are saying. 

PSO, a front group for foreign fishing equipment interests, has filed a lawsuit to stop the implementation of California's landmark effort to protect its oceans, according to an editorial by Richard Chandler of Defenders of Wildlife on California Progress Report.com.

He continues: It is sad and unfortunate that foreign corporations now are funding a meritless lawsuit to kill California's bipartisan ocean protection plan that has been supported by two Governors, the Legislature, the Fish&Game Commission, business leaders, and tens of thousands of Californians.

For their part, PSO seems to be associated with a campaign named Keep America Fishing, which targets recreational anglers. Seems innocent and reasonable enough but hard to tell with editorials like Chandler's and others accusing PSO of serious offenses.

The Something's Fishy site by the California League of Conservation Voters refers to PSO as such:  

Funded by fishing equipment manufacturers that profit from overfishing and overharvesting sea life, PSO backers are trying to stop Florida’s efforts to protect the manatee, they support the killing of sea lions in California…and now have turned their attention to blocking protection of California’s coastal marine life.

So maybe PSO does stink, and cannot be trusted, starting with their name.

Read the whole Richard Chandler editorial here.

Be Inspired

Check out incredible shots from the Nature Conservancy's photography contest. These images are so gorgeous they recall the hidden pull of nature's raw beauty, that moment when life takes your breath and fills you with hope. Take a look, and be inspired.  

See all the photos here.

Above photos in descending order by Patrick Smith (Hawaii), Megan Lorenz (Canada), and Chris Gin (New Zealand).

Tell Congress What's Unfair and Unsustainable

Renewables in lane three

Here's an opportunity to act. Send a note to Congress via Oceana in support of renewable energy.

President Obama got it right in his State of the Union address when he said "instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy, let's invest in tomorrow's," as noted by Oceana.

Yesterday's energy is simply unsustainable. Start with the subsidies. The oil industry, which hauls in billions of dollars in profits every year, still receives free money from the US Government. Much of it was designed to stimulate a nascent industry back in the day but it is still on the books.

Aside from a waste of US taxpayers' money, the subsidies tip the scales for petroleum. Let's get rid of them and get closer to that proverbial level playing field. 

It's about jobs, national security, economic competition, and yes, all the ills of climate change including acidic oceans.

Write whatever you want, or use Oceana's text for the letter to Congress. Have fun.

Image: timesofmalta.com

Comical Spin from the Biggest Polluters

Utilities, oil refiners, and the state of Texas were unhappy recently when the courts said you cannot delay the regulation of greenhouse gases by the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the Washington Post.

"Yet another blow was dealt in favor of overreaching government regulation and against the economic well-being of the American people," Charles T. Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, said in a statement, according to the story. 

I did not know that the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association had a sense of humor.

It is laughable that the head of the association presumes to be looking out for the well being of the American people.

How about phasing out your dirty business, and focusing all that patriotism on helping America establish a renewable energy economy, one that includes jobs and our legacy of innovation? 

Not funny

Environmental organizations hailed the court's order. "The biggest polluters in America hired countless K Street lawyers to undermine EPA's science-based policies to address global warming consistent with its responsibilities under the Clean Air Act," said Vickie Patton, general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, according to the Washington Post.

Climate change undermines the health of the oceans in many ways, so moving away from the petroleum economy as soon as possible is another way to express one's love for the seas.

Read the whole court ruling story here. 

Photo: altweeklies.com