Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/13061
LONGBEACHMAGAZINE.COM 61 views of the entire Island: There is widespread recognition among climate scientists that the emission of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels is contributing to global warming and global climate change with a number of consequences, including sea level rise, ocean acidification, and loss of biodiversity — both terrestrial and marine. Most climate scientists believe that the release of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels may have put the capacity of Earth to sustain life as we know it, including human life, at risk. We live in an oil-dependent nation in an oil-dependent world, and given the well-documented and growing threats from this dependency, one should question why we are so slow in transitioning to a more renewable energy future. Projections are that in 2035, fossil fuels will still make up more than 75 percent of all energy use in the U.S. To speed the transition, we might consider imposing a tariff of perhaps $2 — or more — on every barrel of oil produced, not only in the Gulf of Mexico, but in the entire U.S. — and put those monies into a dedicated fund that can be used only for development of renewable energy sources. Transitioning to a green economy may cause short- term and temporary economic perturbations, but it will produce jobs and stimulate economic development with little delay. The recent move by U.S. Senators from the three West Coast states to prohibit — on a permanent basis — any offshore oil exploration and exploitation off our coasts would protect our coasts, but would not reduce our dependency on oil or on oil from the ocean. It shifts extraction of the offshore oil that we use as a nation to other coastal areas, some that require drilling in much deeper water and to much greater depths below the sea floor, thus increasing the risk. The immediate challenge is to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from Deepwater Discovery. But, the bigger challenge is getting out of the ocean and transitioning to a renewable energy future. The story of the bank robber Willie Sutton comes to mind. When asked why he robbed banks, his response was "because that's where the money is." We will continue to drill for oil in the ocean because that's where the oil is, and we will continue to do it until we reduce our demand for oil. The nation needs a national energy bill that puts in place an American clean-energy infrastructure that puts the U.S. onto a trajectory to ending our addiction to oil. Other nations, including China, have done it. As Thomas Friedman has observed, the situation in the Gulf is a disaster — and a disaster is an inexcusable thing to waste. n Jerry Schubel, a lifelong environmentalist, is President and CEO of the Aquarium of the Pacific.