These People

During the day and into the night these people
drive on the beach like it's their highway,
flicking ashes into Quahog half shells teetering on the dash,
night fright grins rend deep shadows
through a speeding window along sand thick with oily tread.

Doubt these people ever see the opal moon touch the tides.
Doubt these people hear the rhythm where dune grasses hold fast
while waves throw themselves on the beach
like ancient men of honor. 

When these people finally collapse,
the mighty sea will barely recognize them,
yet ultimately carry their rank water and feeble bones to origins.
They hardly deserve it.

France's Backward Shark Bounty

Last I checked, it is not 1975, and we are not in the movie Jaws.  But that's how far backward we've stepped with France's bounty on bull sharks.

"French fishermen will be on the hunt for a vulnerable shark species off the coast of the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion soon – and will pocket government cash for their kills after a dramatic rise in deadly attacks pushed Paris to take unprecedented measures," according to the Huffington Post.

Talk about sending the wrong message.  Conquering and fighting nature brought us to where we are now, and most people agree, people have messed up nature pretty badly.  We won, but spoiled the spoils.

How about connecting with nature rather than destroying it?  Everyone wins when we live with the rhythm.  Sharks are important top predators that are key to healthy oceans, and healthy oceans mean healthy people.

Health that is threatened as millions of sharks are killed every year for shark fin soup.  Shark fin soup has fortunately been banned in many places but not in others.  If not soup, then sharks still face ocean warming, overfishing, and ocean pollution.

Targeting sharks does not even work. "Some researchers contend that the French initiative will not work as planned. Christopher Neff, a shark-attack researcher at the University of Sydney in Australia, said that statistics and an ineffective decade long cull in Hawaii prove that 'shark hunts just don't work to reduce the number of attacks,'" according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

So maybe instead of Vive La France, let's try Longues Requins Vivants (long live sharks)!

Image: Universal Studios

Nice Beach Afternoon

Spent a nice afternoon at a beach.  Here's what I saw:

Fossil Fueled Thinking Holds Us Back

Trilobites in Washington

This is  a prime example of fossil fueled thinking that is the opposite of innovation and progress, not to mention clean air and water. 

The US Navy solves a vulnerability by using alternatives to petroleum to run its jets, yet high-ranking politicians like Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma immediately shoot it down. 

Inhofe tried to use the excuse of costs for denying the Navy at a recent committee hearing but still could not help his completely unscientific, climate denial-paranoia from bubbling to the surface.

The Pentagon "should not be wasting time perpetrating President Obama's global warming fantasies or his ongoing war on affordable energy,"  he said, according to Seacoastonline.

Wasting time?  I suppose he has not noticed we are pretty much running out of time.

Global warming fantasies?  Seems the only fantasy here is Inhofe wishing it would all go away.  He and his fossil fuel cronies could get back to making piles of cash at the expense of the health and well being of Americans everywhere, including the US soldiers who are put in harm's way to protect our dependence on fossil fuels and the thousands of American children suffering from pollution-induced asthma. 

Affordable energy?  The US recently paid $100 million per month to ship fuel to troops in Afghanistan.  That's $400 per gallon, people. 

By the way, Inhofe is the guy who built an igloo on the Capitol lawn a few years ago and stuck a sign on it that read: "Honk if you love global warming!" 

So maybe he's just not a serious person and is willing to make jokes about drought and ocean acidification. 

But you would hope that by now someone, maybe his staff, would help him open his eyes and see stacks and stacks of peer reviewed scientific data that show that human-caused climate change is already here, and its symptoms, including extreme weather, are all around us.  Then again, fossilized thinking is pretty much by definition set in stone.

What to do?

1. Support clean energy
2. Tell Inhofe what you think about fossil fuels
3. Tell your own representatives in Washington

98 Percent of DOE Loan Projects Successful

This should be the last word on Solyndra and the DOE loan program, but I'm sure the rhetoric from fossil fuel inspired politicos will keep going ad nauseam. 

So best just to keep good news like this in mind when you run into a denier, that special someone just unwilling to accept that the future of energy is one of our biggest challenges.  We can do something about it but need to act.  I digress.  Here's the good news:

"These critics keep citing Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturer that went bankrupt because of intense foreign competition. But the projects representing about 98 percent of the program's funding have been successful, especially solar power plants that aren't vulnerable to the volatile global economy. Overall, the program has spurred $40 billion of investments in energy projects over the last five years, while supporting more than 60,000 American jobs.

An independent program review headed by Herbert Allison, a former Wall Street financier, reported that the loan portfolio is performing well, with the great majority of the companies on track to repay their loans on schedule along with $8 billion in interest," according to the Miami Herald.

image: kissmyfacetypepad

Reason to Smile at the Wal Mart Greeter

I've got serious reservations about mega stores including the ultimate: Wal Mart. 

The impact on the local economy, on small businesses, labor practices, and the aesthetics play into these notions.  Maybe it's simply the sense of emptiness, walking around lost in the massive fluorescent box carrying misgivings about the elderly greeter being paid to say hello to me. 

But megas can also move markets and single-handedly make a positive impact.  When they decide to buy sustainable fish for instance, their draw alone moves fisheries to fish with the future in mind.

Plus, they have piles of cash and Wal Mart recently donated some of that -- $71 million -- to conservation efforts including nearly half to marine conservation.

That's pretty sweet and surely enough to garner a smile for the greeter and wish them a nice day right backatcha.

Southerland's God Given Freedom to Fish

Ocean activists are campaigning against the re-election of Representative Steve Southerland (FL) becasue he is directly endangering the health of the oceans. 

But don't listen to me, listen to a fisherman, John Schmidt, in a recent editorial.  This is someone who relies on healthy oceans for his livelihood.  Here he is telling us why Southerland is so dangerous:

"As someone who has been fishing in the Gulf of Mexico for more than 25 years, I’m exasperated by the actions of some in Congress like Rep. Steve Southerland who are working to destroy the livelihoods of myself and hundreds of other hardworking Gulf fishermen.

Earlier this month, Southerland, a Republican who represents Florida’s eastern Panhandle, wrote in The Hill newspaper about his God-given freedom to fish.

God-given freedoms in civilized societies come with responsibilities.  Sport fishermen want more fish, and so do the 97.3 percent of Americans who are simply consumers.  Healthy fisheries are the only way that this can happen. Our country should be celebrating the innovative management in recent years that finally has reversed depletion and began rebuilding our fisheries. But Rep. Southerland wants to stop that and its economic benefits in its tracks.

As someone who relies on the God-given resources in our oceans to make a living, I have seen first-hand that healthy fisheries are essential.

In his essay, Rep. Southerland expressed his support for defunding catch share programs. This innovative management system has proven vital to rebuilding our fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. Equally important is that we now have systems in place to assure our fisheries stay healthy.  These are among the best fishery management success stories in our nation’s history. Twenty years ago we would never had dreamed that we could provide fresh domestic seafood year-round while rebuilding our fisheries and our jobs at the same time

The catch share system was the fairest solution that didn’t force fishermen out. We worked with federal managers and the regional Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to establish our own program.  At the local level — not through federal mandate or expanded regulations — we established individual fishing quotas (IFQs) that would enable us to spread out our fishing season and rebuild our fishery at the same time. In 2009, 81 percent of qualified fishermen voted in favor of an active fishery management program that was focused on rebuilding our grouper stocks. In 2010 the Grouper catch share program took effect as a companion to the red snapper catch share program.

Now, for the first time in history we have year-round sustainable fishing jobs and no closed season. The fishery is more valuable because we provide fresh grouper throughout the year.  The product is the best it has ever been.  Fresh fish has become a reality again in our region.  Competition from foreign imports is down, and restaurants are putting fresh Gulf Grouper back on the menu.

The solution that fishermen forged locally is working better than anyone visualized. In spite of this success, Rep. Southerland is determined to prevent fishermen and regional councils from considering this solution for foundering fisheries. He wants to micromanage fishermen from his office in Washington.

Rep. Southerland should leave fisheries management in the hands of fishermen and regional councils."

John Schmidt is a commercial fisherman from Palm Harbor and a member of the Gulf Fishermen’s Association.

Here's 3 things you can do to prevent people like Southerland from doing more damage:

1. Be aware of the issues
2. Be aware of where your representatives stand
3. Vote for healthy oceans and clean energy

As Ocean Champions say: Elections Matter.