[Coral-List] Reef Safe Bill In Hawaii

[Tim Brown - NOAA Affiliate]

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
>



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*Timothy BrownMokupapapa Discovery Center*
*Papahanoumokuakea Marine National Monument*
76 Kamehameha Ave
Hilo, HI 96720
tim.brown at noaa.gov
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