Capitol Hill Ocean Week: There is only "we"

Alecia Jurado at the US Capitol

Confucius once said, "We are so busy doing the urgent that we don't have time to do the important." Even after over 2,000 years, I couldn't agree more. In today's day and age, we seem to depend on drastic events such as hurricane Sandy or the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill to steer people's attention towards the environment and the crucial roles the ocean plays in our everyday lives.


Unfortunately, even after environmentally catastrophic events, the attention is only temporary. Take the BP oil spill for example; even the landlocked people of Kansas were in a state of alarm and fury while watching the thousands of barrels of oil gush into the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf coast inhabitants and visitors alike were petrified for the current effects and the threats the oil was putting on the local ecosystem, beaches, tourism, and economy. Then, 3 months and 4.9 million barrels later, the beaches were cleaned up, the sunburned tourists returned, Dawn launched an adorable new advertising platform and the oil seemingly "disappeared." What people fail to realize is that this oil spill still has just as much an environmental impact today as it did 3 years ago. Just because the oil is no longer visible doesn't mean it's not there and having a continually profound effect upon our Gulf ecosystem.

Similarly, just because we don't notice the sea level rising or the earth warming doesn't mean that it's not happening. Anyone who has taken an Environmental Issues class with Dr. Jeff Chanton will remember the multitudes of graphs and diagrams depicting the ever-changing global temperature. There is plenty of scientific evidence that the earth goes through 100,000-year cycles of global warming and cooling and these cycles have been taking place since long before humans shook the natural balance of this planet. So is global warming a natural cycle or one prompted by human influence? The simplified answer is both. The beauty of this is that we don't have to choose a side, but we do have to accept that our world is getting warmer, we are speeding up the process, and most importantly - we are not prepared for the future state of this planet. Some would argue that we aren't even prepared for the current state. So why is it that we only focus on topics such as climate change and sea level rise once it's too late?

Scientists sampling during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

Well, I cannot speak for everyone, but the general consensus is that it's a lot easier to pretend something is not happening until we are forced to confront it. And then rather than creating agenda's and implementing solutions for some of our biggest climate threats, we sit back and argue over which "side" to take. Effective resolutions and adaptive plans are put off because of scientific uncertainties. Newsflash, this is environmental science; there will ALWAYS be uncertainties. There will never be easy answers and almost every solution will involve major compromises from communities, governments, and environmentalists alike.

Hope

I spent the last few days watching some of the world's greatest scientists, policy makers and think tanks come together to try and find solutions for major issues such as ocean acidification, rising sea-level, overfishing, and marine debris. I watched these brilliant people struggle as much as anyone, but I still left every day with a surprising feeling of hope. This hope came from the extraordinary people I met throughout this week. I witnessed women and men from all different professions and interests set aside their daily lives to come together and promote the importance of our oceans. Businessmen chatted with environmentalists, congressmen conversed with fishermen, and students, like myself, soaked in all of the amazing ideas and resolutions that came from the communication between these unlikely pairings. It was this sense of unity and dedication that left me optimistic for the future of our blue planet.



Iceberg in Antarctica

The issues facing our oceans today will require both time and effort, but most importantly, they will require a nation and a world working together to inspire innovative ideas, advocate conservation efforts, and implement (as in actually apply) sustainable solutions. We spend so much of our time creating trivial boundaries and drawing lines between "us" and "them" when it's important to understand that there is only "we." It is no one person's sole responsibility to save the ocean, just like it is no one person's sole actions that are destroying it. Together we got ourselves into this mess and we must work together to get ourselves out.