[Coral-List] Reef Safe Bill In Hawaii

Steve Mussman sealab at earthlink.net
Tue Apr 11 19:56:18 EDT 2017


Hi Tim,
I think you honed in on what should be the main focus point with your query "How do we create a paradigm shift in the prevailing American attitude regarding consumption and wastefulness.."  Or put another way,  how do we get Americans (and other nationalities) to place a higher value on environmental issues?  In my opinion, a paradigm shift in values has to occur first if we are to have any chance of getting our (generally disregarded) conservation messages transformed into policies and actions that can actually make a difference. You know the quote, "In the end we will only conserve what we love" (or value). 
Best regards,
Steve

Sent from my iPad

> On Apr 10, 2017, at 6:14 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
>  Prmassive 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
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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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