[Coral-List] NOAA plan to save coral reefs

[Steve Mussman]

Dear Phil,

I know nothing about the inner workings of NOAA and I’m not here to defend them, but as a federal agency I suspect that to some extent their hands are tied. Everyone knows how the current administration feels about climate change and environmental protection in general. Still, there are scientists within the agency that are pushing the narrative, doing what they can to frame the issues properly and with that, I imagine assuming some level of personal risk. But what about the NGOs and the various restoration/conservation organizations that are strategically downplaying or ignoring the fundamental issues that you raise? Most have an array of scientific advisors, why are they playing along?    At the same time, I get the distinct feeling that the prevailing winds are changing. More and more I am hearing things that lead me to believe that a pro-environment mantra is gaining momentum. Call it the “Greta Effect” or whatever, but attitudes are shifting and I really do believe that the political will necessary to change the paradigm is just around the corner. Perhaps it will come too late for some of the world’s coral reefs, but if enough people keep pressing for science-based solutions, growing demand for conservation can drive the political winds in the right direction. Intensifying storms, wildfires and flooding are raising the spectra of the price societies will have to pay for further delays and inaction. Corporations are increasingly aware of the risks involved and being risk-adverse, they will increasingly be using their considerable political influence to push for change. Right now is exactly the right time to clarify the message and build the political will necessary to finally attack the fundamental ecological issues with the ferocity that you suggest. Let’s hope that 2020 marks the beginning of a decade of sea change whereby conservation finds its rightful place among our society’s and the world’s top political priorities. This may sound pollyannaish, but there is just too much at stake to give up. So keep on speaking out and pressing on, hopefully that is sunlight that we are beginning to see at the end of that very long and dark tunnel.

Warm regards for a Happy & Healthy New Year . . .  and a brand new decade of change,

Steve Mussman 





 

Sent from my iPad

> On Dec 26, 2019, at 3:03 PM, Dustan, Phillip via Coral-List <coral- list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> 
> Steve,
> Thanks for the pep talk
> NOAA has been spouting this sort of rhetoric for years and  the reefs keep dying - faster and faster and now there is virtually nothing left.  NOAA has not paid enough attention to the basic ecology of coral reefs. The very adaptations that allow reefs to flourish make them vulnerable to human activity.  The scientific community has known  this for years. NOAA has been told over and over but since the agency insists on commerce too - it will never work out. Dollars increase and reefs suffer......Now we have climate change and what is NOAA doing about it? Where is the strong political will to work on the things that matter? We very well might be better off planting 90 million dollars worth of trees than coral outplants at this stage of the game. The politics are simply stronger than  conservation. Reefs along the US coastline will not have a chance until we attack the more fundamental issues with 2-5x the ferocity of the WW2 effort; and even with that it may be too late for the Keys until sea level rises to the point where people are excluded............. I just can not understand why we are not more realistic about the current situation? There are solutions we can work on but most are on land, not in the sea.
>   Phil
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