[Coral-List] Happy Birthday Mike, Keep on Writing Screeds

[Christine Ward-Paige]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!  I hope you're doing some version of your crazy,
stupid challenge that no one can comfortably complete this year. :)

I do like a good screed and you raise great points about something I'm
stuck on this week, that maybe anyone reading this can weigh in on.

The question I (and some colleagues) have is "*How do we prudently guide
innovators, businesses, investors, decision makers, governments, etc. to
pursue a smart "Blue Economy"?*"  — one that makes sense biologically,
socially, and economically.

If you aren't aware, billions of dollars are being invested around the
world to "Grow the Blue Economy". It's seen as the final frontier with the
last 'untapped wealth'. Some say it can go from $1.5 trillion to $3
trillion by 2030 — one of the fastest growing economic sectors. So a lot of
people are pivoting what they do to get in on that piece of the pie.

But what does it mean? Where and what activities should be pursued,
eliminated, altered, etc. as part of growing a blue economy?

In the business and tech circles I'm now in, MBAs ask "Where's the best
opportunity for me in the ocean space? Where should I invest my time,
money, energy?"  I'll say that I've seen some pretty ridiculous and
misinformed (but well messaged) ideas, so called 'Solutions', get
significant investment from private investors and governments. They say
they'll 'help' but I only see further destruction.

I believe that getting the concept of the 'blue economy' right (ish) —
e.g., what is 'blue' vs what is 'blue washing' — may be one of the most
important things we can do right now. Then the flow of investments,
innovations, permits, etc. can finally go in the right direction to
the right activities. In some cases, this does include reef restoration,
but in other cases, like Mike says, the water needs to not be toxic first.

I'm now scouring for papers (not news) that show that a poorly defined
'blue economy' has caused damage. I welcome paper links and other screeds.

 - Christine.

On Fri, Mar 15, 2024 at 11:54 AM Yossi Loya via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Hi coral-list Peter Sale and Mike Risk,
> Thanks Peter and Happy Birthday, Mike.
> Each of your words, Peter, is carved in stone.
> Yossi
> Tel Aviv University
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Mar 14, 2024 at 11:53 PM Peter Sale via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
> > Hi coral-list and Mike Risk,
> > Happy Birthday, Mike. Keep on writing screeds.  We all live in a Zone of
> > Interest these days, trying our best to get on with our lives without
> > noticing the daily destruction of the planet we occupy.  Those of us
> lucky
> > enough to have spent time on coral reefs over more than a three to four
> > year span are vaguely aware that things are not as they once were. Those
> of
> > us who read the old literature (when it was new and there was less
> > literature overall to read) may remember the evidence for the causes of
> > reef decline (or some of them anyway). We are more sensitized than others
> > to the ridiculousness of many frequent proposals for how to save coral
> > reefs. But our time is also limited and soon we will all be gone.
> >
> > At some time in the future, perhaps, a new cohort of sentient beings who
> > care about the planet that sustains them may discover some of your
> screeds.
> > They will marvel that we knew so much about how to fix things (or how to
> > avoid breaking things) and yet continued to break things until all was
> > gone. These sentient beings may be our descendants, or they may be
> > something else entirely. And they may even witness a rebirth of coral
> reefs.
> >
> > For now, those of us who do remember can write screeds, or build Facebook
> > pages, or even create TikTok videos in the hope of doing some good. But
> > based on the last 20 years those efforts will do relatively little to
> stop
> > our collective headlong rush into oblivion. But we have to keep trying,
> > because perhaps...
> >
> > And those few who are younger than us but have somehow caught onto the
> > truth that a flourishing planet is more important to their lives by far
> > than is a booming economy; to those I say I hope very much that you will
> > prove me wrong.
> > Peter Sale
> > University of Windsor
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Coral-List mailing list
> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
> _______________________________________________
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> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
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