Posted by brianc on July 13, 2001 at 08:48:19:
In Reply to: Jason, I'm with you... posted by Patty on July 12, 2001 at 19:54:45:
I'm a biologist who works daily on real-life situations that affect the environment. I work with large and small companies, academic institutions, and government agencies. The only thing worse for progress on environmental issues than uneducated rabid conservatives are uneducated rabid "environmentalists". I understand honest differences of opinion and goals, but I don't understand the amazing leaps to extremes that I see on both sides of this debate. It makes me very worried about the state of our educational system.
Those of us who put an honest effort into educating ourselves, rather than relying on emotionalism, recognize multiple components to true sustainability. Three primary elements must be balanced against each other to achieve sustainability in the real world:
1. Ecological sustainability of a system - There needs to be a robust biological system for us to have anything to even argue about.
2. Economic sustainability of those who work impact/interact with the system - people who are on a subsistence level go for short term gains, they can't put out the extra effort to protect a biological system for future generations.
3. Sustainability of communities that impact/interact with the biological system - long term support of biological system is dependant on long term support of those involved with that system. Communities set and pass-on values - both moral and economic.
Right now, the ecological component of that triad is the weakest leg. That means that proactive action must be taken to shore up that component. Yes, that will affect the other components in ways that some do not like. The long-range goal though, should be to strengthen each of the three system parameters. Any extreme actions in one direction or the other would eventually result in unbalance and an unsustainable situation. We have to work in the real world and recognize that social, economic, and political factors do and will continue to impact environmental factors. Extreme closure methods can lead to political backlashes. Failure to steward environmental resources can lead to economic impacts. Both of these things affect communities.
Divers can best help the ocean by educating themselves so that they can seek the middle ground, not by clinging to emotional extremes.