[Coral-List] Reef Safe Bill In Hawaii

Matt Nolan mpnolan at lbl.gov
Wed Apr 12 10:26:25 EDT 2017


Is there a way to tag the products that are sources of the Nitrogen
and Phosphorous with a tracer additives unique to the supplier?

Something that could then later be monitored for in the environment,
such that one could then identify via scientific assumptions

presence of this much of the tracer found here has corresponding
probability of X amount of the what it was tagging present.

I vaguely recollect something is put into explosives so one can trace
them back to their source or even the batch.

here is an example of a google patent to do something vaguely similar
in a way with diesel exhaust I think

whereas something is put into a process creating an undesirable
output, for the purpose being able to monitor some output

https://www.google.com/patents/US9156708

Has NOOA ever funded research into such a concept?

I would have to assume a great deal of money was to be made for the
company creating the tracers if it was mandated by law
the tracers were to be included in the massive amount of fertilizers
etc whose end result is the Nitrogen and Phosphorous in pollution.  I
would think if such a product were in development the polluting
companies would want to buy it out to gain control over any potential
patents and to hinder the development of the products to postpone any
chance they may ever be used.

Would not some set of lawyers  be salivating at the opportunities to
get their cut of environmental damage lawsuits once there was a way
trace the offending runoff back to a source?

I would think even the threat of some eventual tractability scheme
would force them to allocate more resources to mitigating overuse from
a now that we have to, we can spend a bit more to manage this problem
better perspective.  Kind of a better late than never we can
self-regulate.

And anything that causes risk for the companies products that result
in the pollution should creating some money making opportunities for
people adept in profiting off buying/selling of stacks.



On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 3:14 PM, Tim Brown - NOAA Affiliate
<tim.brown at noaa.gov> wrote:
> Devils advocate here but the whole reef safe sunscreen campaign feels like
> such a fashionable trend right now....(like yoga and surfing)....an easy
> consumable product that people can simply purchase to feel good about
> themselves while perpetuating more pervasive causes of large scale reef
> destruction like coastal development and first-world over-consumption.
>
> i.e.: Tourists buying reef-safe sunscreen are encouraged to feel they are
> "saving the reef" by making this consumption choice while staying at
> massive coastal resort complexes that drain large quantities of Nitrogen
> and Phosphorous into nearshore waters.
>
>
> The negative effects on coral larvae of concentrated Oxybenzone in small
> quantities of water in closed lab studies are undeniable... but neither can
> we deny the runoff effects from golf courses, landscaping, and coastal
> development.
>
> Its unpopular to challenge a population's way of life but perhaps there is
> some way to support a more holistic approach to sustainability than simply
> purchasing one product over another.  How do we create a paradigm shift in
> the prevailing American attitude regarding consumption and
> wastefulness...can we make this as fun and trendy (and easy) as buying a
> new sunscreen???
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 6, 2017 at 11:23 AM, Be Reef Safe <bereefsafe at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Aloha,
>>
>> We have been working hard in Hawaii to improve our reefs and sponsoring a
>> reef-safe sunscreen bill which has been watered down into a study, that
>> probably won't be funded.
>>
>> Our funding applications to study oxybenzone effects on the reefs in Hawaii
>> has been denied by NOAA as they are focused on climate change.
>>
>> We need support to pressure our lawmakers to help us remove dangerous
>> chemicals from products that are harming the reefs. We are so close to
>> making it happen.
>>
>> The latest wording of the bill prior has been to remove the "ban" and
>> replace it with a study.
>> http://www.bereefsafe.com/hawaii-bill-relating-
>> preserving-coral-reefs-sb1150/
>>
>> Dan
>>
>> http://www.bereefsafe.com
>> http://www.haereticus-lab.org/donations-fundraising/
>> https://bantoxicsunscreens.com/
>> _______________________________________________
>> Coral-List mailing list
>> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>>
>
>
>
> --
> ------------------------------------------------------
>
> *Timothy BrownMokupapapa Discovery Center*
> *Papahanoumokuakea Marine National Monument*
> 76 Kamehameha Ave
> Hilo, HI 96720
> tim.brown at noaa.gov
> ------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
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