Super Eco

Photo credit: ms.lume flickr

If there was ever an element that needed defending, it is the element of water.

These days, our oceans are particularly at risk. For too long we have functioned under the "out of sight, out of mind" principle, dumping and polluting their vastness with impunity. The recent BP oil spill has shifted our attention, as a nation, to the untenable plight of our beleaguered seas.

In particular, the current BP disaster--there have been many--functions as a non-stop, catastrophic wake-up call, an alarm that just won't stop ringing. Be assured that this is one call we desperately need to answer. We are compelled as a nation to vigorously support reform that safeguards and prevents these types of assaults on our oceans and all the myriad life sustained within their borders.

In a watershed effort to begin to protect the rich diversity of our nation's oceans, President Obama has set in motion a policy that will unify our efforts to tackle the challenges facing our marine resources. According to the NRDC staff blog, Switchboard, this policy will help to:

1. Rehabilitate and rebuild our struggling fisheries and protect the endangered species therein.
2. Preserve and restore vulnerable and compromised habitats from further industrial harm.
3. Stop storm water runoff from contaminating our beach water.
4. Stop the introduction and spread of invasive species.
5. Safeguard against the impact of ocean acidification and rising sea temperatures.

By protecting our oceans' diversity we are in essence protecting ourselves. It is altogether too bad that it takes a disaster of this magnitude to unify and compel us as a nation to come to the defense of our environment. We need to stop sawing off limbs that we are standing on and recognize that there is no place on earth that deserves to be polluted and destroyed for the sake of expediency or profit. Better late, come we to this realization, than never.

We here at Super Eco applaud the President for spurring the creation of a National Ocean Council designed to protect our seas. Hallelujah! It's about time.