Moir's Environmental Dialogues, Ocean River Shields of Achilles

17. Solving a Big Problem in the Ocean

If you care about the oceans why you should care about fishing? Amanda Leland and Tom Lalley of the Environmental Defense Fund will tell. Much has been said about what is wrong with overfishing and how management efforts frequently fail. Drawing on personal experiences with sea urchins and a tale of red snapper, as well as years of research and listening to fishermen, we’ll learn how complex and unpredictable ocean wildlife and ecosystems actually are. Discover how this ocean environmental and economic problem can be solved, and what you can do to help. The Environmental Defense Fund offers us educational resources and a tool box for recovering groundfish that include cod, fluke, and haddock, pelagics including tuna and swordfish, and schooling fish: herring, sardine and mackerel. By sharing the catch with less waste and more profit, fish and fishing communities both survive. If you care about the oceans why you should care about fishing?

16. How to create a national ocean policy (without getting all wet)

 President Obama’s Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force is calling for “an America whose stewardship ensures that the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes are healthy and resilient, safe and productive, and understood and treasured.” How do we achieve that vision and how do we get there from here are the topics of discussion for this episode of Moir’s Environmental Dialogues, Ocean River Shields of Achilles. My guests, Sarah Chasis and Alison Chase, are from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Ms. Chasis is director of NRDC’s ocean initiative and Ms. Chase is an ocean policy analyst. This episode's Capital Hill update from Dr. David Wilmot, Co-founder and President of Ocean Champions, is on who is doing what for ocean policy. Listen in to hear what you can do to bring about an Executive Order for healthy seas.

15. Seaweed Rebels Rally and Wear Blue for President Obama’s National Ocean Policy

Sherman’s Lagoon syndicated cartoonist Jim Toomey and Blue Frontier Campaign president David Helvarg talk about the goals and accomplishments of the National Ocean Policy Task Force.  What began with Sherman Lagoon’s Claudia the crab and Finley the fish wearing blue shirts in a comic strip grew to a national movement involving thousands of people for ocean conservation with individuals wearing blue before the Honolulu state house, east to the Cambridge MA Community Center and New Orleans north to Anchorage.

 

David Helvarg’s “Seaweed Rebellion, Blue Frontier Campaign” has brought people together, provided unity and focus while enhancing awareness of the grassroots (seaweed holdfasts) ocean movement. Mike Dunmeyer, Ocean Champions Executive Director, will join in with us for a wild, wet discussion of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force’s work.

 

View the national Wear Blue video where Jim Toomey speaks first standing before the White House. Mike Dunmyer steps up after Jim to speak of "a huge first step to align government agencies."

Moir’s Environmental Dialogues, Ocean River Shields of Achilles is available for streaming, MP3 file, or free on iTunes. 

14. Battling Assaults to the Gulf of Maine Ecosystem with a Responsive Systemic Initiative

Peter Alexander of the Gulf of Maine Restoration and Conservation
Initiative talks about a new effort to tackle the growing
impacts of human activities in the Gulf of Maine. The beautiful Gulf
of Maine appears to many to be a relatively pristine ecosystem.
Beneath the waves and along the shores serious problems have been building up over time—and not just the well-publicized crash of native fisheries. Abandoned fishing gear, invasive species, municipal waste, pollution from agricultural and residential runoff, and loss of fish and wildlife habitat are causing enormous harm, and until now there has been no comprehensive plan to deal with these and other problems. Discover what locals are doing and interested citizens can do to make a difference.

Also, Senator Barbara Boxer on putting a price on carbon and Representative Brian Baird advancing bipartisan harmful algal
bloom, red tide, and hypoxia (dead zone) legislation.

13. Climate Change: Local Practices and International Environmental Policies Addressing Global Warming, Turning Towards 350 ppm Carbon

Discover how to reduce our carbon footprint, reverse rates of greenhouse gas build-up while creating green jobs and healthier environments with Professor William Moomaw, Senior Director, Tufts Institute of the Environment; Co-Director, Global Development and Environment Institute; and Lead author, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2003.

12. Sizzle, Global Warming Mockumentary & Shifting Baselines with Randy Olson

Randy Olson, marine biologist and filmmaker talks about “shifting baselines” for ecosystems and his newest film Sizzle to premier in NYC on Oct 23. Shifting baselines are the chronic, slow changes to an ecosystem or place that one is not apt to notice. It is more difficult to appreciate and understand what has been lost in a degraded system if a baseline of what is there had not been established in the past. Sizzle, the documentary, addresses climate change without the graphs, but with disagreeable scientists and with sophisticated humor. Randy Olson explains the distinctions and advantages to “mockumentaries” versus documentaries, where media respects the better understandings that listeners have in order to get the parody.www.sizzlethemovie.com Dave Wilmot tells of marking-up a bill in DC for tackling harmful algal blooms and ocean hypoxia. www.oceanchampions.org Chukchi Sea hairy blob days are numbered. 

11. Roz Savage Paddling the Pacific Ocean, Rowing towards a Greener World

Roz Savage rowed 3,158 miles solo across the Pacific Ocean, west from Hawaii, to arrive at the low coral atoll islands of Kiribati, Eastern Pacific on Sept 9, 2009. 104 days at sea. 203 total days alone at sea for her Pacific crossing with 99 days from CA to Hawaii in 2008. Roz uses her ocean rowing adventures to help inspire action for healthier oceans and cleaner skies, the challenges of climate change to stop detrimental effects of lethal overheating and turn toxic tides. Hear Roz describe close encounters with a whale shark, large seabirds and flying squid. Learn how one person lived alone at sea while networked via the Internet with many. Be inspired by a woman who quietly did the never-been-done, over 1.3 million oar strokes west from California with two oars, gloves, sliding seat, sunscreen and bean sprouts.