[Coral-List] NY Times: Oil in Gulf Poses Only Slight Risk, New US Report Says

Wed Aug 4 17:26:04 EDT 2010

Dear Ted,

We are NOT ranting environmentalists like Greenpeace. even if our name may have you confused.

I am a mathematician by professional background, so I can not call myself a scientist in the sense most listers would probably do.

However as a mathematician I do know a lot about how scientific data and statistical data can be misinterpreted and findings distorted, mostly for political reasons.

The US Government is not my government, so the trust must be earned, as the Gulf of Mexico Large Marine Ecosystem borders on several other countries in Central America and the Caribbean.

Our organization holds the NOAA in very high esteem, much more so than ANY other US governmental body dealing with environmental issues.

Good science however requires that findings be corroborated by other scientists.

In this case it would mean that other institutions add their own data and evaluations and concur on the findings based on the collective body of data.

The problems start when at least one authoritative institution comes up with findings that contradict or somehow do not conform with the findings of NOAA.

I have read the 5 page report and it seems very convincing.

So for good science's sake let us call it "preliminary findings" and have other institutions corroborate the report.

I am very keenly aware of the extreme political pressure to move forward on the oil spill disaster economic recovery plans.

This Coral List is all about scientific and related work on corals, coral reefs and related ecosystem and other cross-cutting issues.

Lately with the US climate/energy bill being scuttled and the US going empty-handed again into the COP 16 (follow up to Copenhagen COP 15 Climate Change Summit) in Cancun, December 2010, and the handling of the BP Oil Spill, in which the media and polls showed the discontent of the American voters, taxpayers and citizens affected, in terms of job security, we must stay clear of emotional reasoning.

I agree with Patrick More, former founder of Greenpeace that environmental issues must be dealt with on a good scientific footing.

It is in this spirit that I made my comments, not to dismiss the report or more specific the senior staff of NOAA.

It is good hard science that keeps politicians and governments straight and to stray from the general interest in their day to day policy making.

And in times of crisis, level headed thinking and cold hard science save the day.

My apologies for any staff at NOAA who may have interpreted otherwise.

Milton Ponson, President
Rainbow Warriors Core Foundation
(Rainbow Warriors International) Tel. +297 568 5908
PO Box 1154, Oranjestad 
Aruba, Dutch Caribbean 
Email: southern_caribbean at yahoo.com    http://www.rainbowwarriors.net

To unite humanity in a global society dedicated to a sustainable way of life

--- On Wed, 8/4/10, Ted Morris <easy501 at zianet.com> wrote:

From: Ted Morris <easy501 at zianet.com>
Subject: RE: [Coral-List] NY Times: Oil in Gulf Poses Only Slight Risk, New US Report Says
To: "'RainbowWarriorsInternational'" <southern_caribbean at yahoo.com>, coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov, "'Caribbean Biodiversity'" <caribbean-biodiversity at yahoogroups.com>, carib-coral-reefs at yahoogroups.com, "'Caribbean Birds'" <birdscaribbean at yahoogroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, August 4, 2010, 1:37 PM

Do you have anything on which to base your implication that we cannot trust
Dr. Lubchenco?  Or is it simply because she is the director of NOAA, and you
disagree with anything the government says?

This is a forum for coral reef science, not a sounding board from political
rants.  Unfortunately, Orwellian conspiracy is insufficient to end this
thread.  Therefore, I invoke Godwin's Law:  "Greenpeace is like a pack of
Brown Shirts when they've got an axe to grind."

There.  It's over.  Take it somewhere else, Milton.

Ted Morris,
Interested Amateur.

-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of
RainbowWarriorsInternational
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2010 10:43 AM
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov; Caribbean Biodiversity;
carib-coral-reefs at yahoogroups.com; Caribbean Birds
Subject: [Coral-List] NY Times: Oil in Gulf Poses Only Slight Risk, New US
Report Says

Today in the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/04/science/earth/04oil.html?th&emc=th.

The 64 million dollar question is can we trust this expert report?

Who contributed the evidence to support the findings in this report?

Same goes for the expected "earlier lifting" of ban on offshore oil
exploration.

This is 2010, but it makes me think of "1984", where "doublespeak" and
"doublethink' ruled supreme.

Are there any reports from scientists or coral reef or marine research
organizations, institutes or networks which corroborate or refute these
findings?

Milton Ponson, President
Rainbow Warriors Core Foundation
(Rainbow Warriors International) Tel. +297 568 5908
PO Box 1154, Oranjestad 
Aruba, Dutch Caribbean 
Email: southern_caribbean at yahoo.com    http://www.rainbowwarriors.net

To unite humanity in a global society dedicated to a sustainable way of life

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