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What Would Jacques Do? One Hundred Years of Oil
Jacques Yves Cousteau spent halcyon days gliding above and beneath the ocean. He lived among the largest mammals and sea drift. He was the master educator and voice for the sea. And so, on this, the 100th anniversary of his birth, it is a sorry state of affairs that we cannot celebrate the legacy of his ocean life, but instead it is the centennial of our own legacy with oil, plastic and associated toxins we must confront. One hundred years ago, 1910, the fossil-fuel-based plastics industry was born, as was Cousteau, and thus began the first plastic century.
Plastic is made from oil and gas, plain and simple, yet we do not
think of oil or plastic pollution when we think of Cousteau. We think
mostly of how he inspired wonder in us. We wondered at life aboard the
Calypso with its salty crew. And, this wonder for the sea has engendered
generations of people to become oceanographers, biologists, divers and
simple lovers of the sea. But, if we do not make the serious connection
-- now -- between the legacy of Cousteau and our legacy with petroleum
we will sully the memory of the man.
Yet, the memory of the ocean was hardly what Cousteau was all about: he was really about the future of the ocean. He was always looking ahead -- not behind. He wanted people to have knowledge so that they could have foresight. His great genius was not that he made you want to go swimming today; it was that he inspired you to want to know deeply and explore constantly the ocean in the immediate future, and always.
"If we were logical, the future would be bleak, indeed. But we are more than logical. We are human beings, and we have faith, and we have hope, and we can work," he said.
Right now, however, we have our thinking backwards; we are watching a reckless and inane "clean up" of the Gulf of Mexico play out in slow motion. What can we imagine he would say right now? Would we listen? Would we nod our heads with a sense of security that the great man was leading us, teaching us, telling us how to get out of this mess? What would he do? Would we join him?
Who knows, but a good guess is that that great lover of the sea, and great pragmatist for the environment might be furious. Enraged. Heartbroken. One can imagine at the same time, the man rallying us to demand substantial legislative changes, responsible action from the oil industry, and a global systemic shift away from oil/plastic/toxins because our very lives depend on it. His line in the sand would be deep and long.
But, he's not here, is he? Yet, his 100th birthday is right before us. His legacy of an ocean is literally mired in the slick dependence we have on oil. So, let's make the list that a pragmatic leader like Cousteau might offer.
Let's do this:
- Tell someone each day what our Ocean Planet, our one and only blue marble, means to you. Describe how you love it, why you want to see it and hear it. Love is stronger than apathy, and your vision for the future of what you love can impact people. Use all of the media at your disposal to share your oceanophilia, get in on rallies, letter writing and vote for the ocean.
- Stop pouring toxins, any toxins, into the drains around you, onto your food, into your tank or into your body: you can show BP what responsibility looks like -- what you don't pour down the drain won't get to the ocean. "Think tank," you might say. Think about what goes in it and what comes out.
- Remember that great people leave Earth, but plastic never does. Reject straws, coffee lids, forks, or anything plastic you use once then throw away. First off, they are made of oil and gas and can make you sick. Second, when they end up in the ocean they make the ocean sick. Try as best you can to free your home, school and business of single-use disposable plastics.
The time is now for us, the lovers of the sea. We cannot wait for a great tide to take the oil, and our need for it, away to a magical place. And, we can't wait for the memory of great people to inspire us to change. We must honor their memory by doing something great ourselves.
Each of us must be Cousteau -- we must embody his legacy with a vision for the future: one that includes a world with a healthy, thriving sea. We must embody his memory -- a person who wanted a healthy, thriving future for the planet.
Ask yourself, "What would Jacques do?" Act as he would. Because we are all ocean activists now.- Posted in
11 Comments so far
Show AllA good article- for a start. We also need to recognize that the last 150 years is the Age of Oil, and while stopping the plastics madness is a good step, plastics is only one of the ways oil degrades our environment. Burning it releases gases that cause problems we are now familiar with, getting it is wasteful and risky, addiction to the lifestyle it provides us isolates and depresses us, --the list is too long to list more than a fraction of the problems caused by oil.
So I would add as the second list item- simplify your life so you use 80% less energy. Boycott oil. Accept that alternatives are extremely limited in the amount of oil energy they can realistically replace. Transition yourself and your community into a less-energy dependent culture.
"you can show BP what responsibility looks like"
I think the idealism here is borderline delusional. The only thing BP is looking to us for is our money at the pump.
I'm all for making a difference in any way we can but to really get somewhere, we need to have a better a strategy than to be "a good influence".
It will take something like living in monestery for most of us. Things like replacing the Super Bowl with national frisby day and a lot more changes that it would be good to let our leader know about.
"Each of us must be Cousteau -- we must embody his legacy with a vision for the future: one that includes a world with a healthy, thriving sea. We must embody his memory -- a person who wanted a healthy, thriving future for the planet."
How sad it is that we are destroying our planet. Should we shed tears (as I have done long ago) or defiantly resist, challenge and strive to change the way we live and treat the Mother Earth?
I grew up as a child watching Cousteau's films and documentaries. I earned my Environmental Science degree but profess to succumbing to sinning with the rest of greedy and selfish mankind.
Yet not all is lost. In my twilight years I will put boots on the ground for the Green Party and I will strive to change the social attitude towards environmental conservation, renewal and protectionism. I will do what I can.
George in Trenton, NJ
Green Party 2012
It's funny how life is, wouldn't you agree? The other day I downloaded The Essential John Denver and was pleasantly surprised to once again hear the song "Calypso." And now this article. When I think of Jacques Yves Cousteau, I think of all the learning I've done, the dreaming I've done, and the actions I have taken to limit my own consumption of finite resources. It's primarily because of Cousteau that I developed an interest in oceanography, biology, and nature conservation. Thank you, Jacques...Happy Birthday!
thanks for reading/commenting
@Elissar: it's a short OpEd + tribute to Cousteau...of course there's more to it! You make the point most clearly. Be responsible at the pump.
@ blueskykate1: agreed. The title says "oil", and is discussed throughout...again, just a short OpEd and tribute to a childhood hero.
@curtis: seems like there are lots of off the shelf solutions/alternative that have been on the shelf waiting for a long time. Monastery can be the backup.
I live in an 80 yr. old 100% wood house, except for the shingles on the roof and the plastic based paints on the walls inside and out. I'm thinking of how to slowly convert to mostly solar electric. Heat is a problem though because my house was built before they insulated the walls of houses. Nevertheless, I use Nat. gas which has less a pollution vector then oil , wood, coal or electric. I've upgraded all my lighting 10 yrs. ago to 90% Fluorescent bulbs and am now converting to even more efficient LED lites.
Hemp could have been used to make those same plastics except that it was unfairly banned. The author should have mentioned hemp for plastics.
It's interesting that hemp is illegal in almost every country, though it is arguably less harmful than alcohol. It may be illegal BECAUSE the oil, plastics and pharmaceutical industries want it that way.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/science_and_environment/10264797.stm
see the above link for the re-launching of the 'calypso'.........
jacques cousteau is my hero...............
sad that there are only a few comments on this article, whilst b.p. has commandeered the 'show'...........
Jacques left behind a son, Jean Michel Cousteau, environmentalist and documentary film producer, who treasures the beautiful oceans. He has worked tirelessly against development on Bimini, with its attendant threats to the rich marine life there, among other projects dear to him.
More here:
http://www.oceanfutures.org/news/press-releases/jean-michel-cousteau-and-ocean-leaders-tackle-trash