{"id":20954,"date":"2012-04-07T08:00:02","date_gmt":"2012-04-07T16:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=20954"},"modified":"2018-02-01T23:02:47","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T23:02:47","slug":"jean-michel-cousteau-speaks-out-on-climate-change-ab32-and-obamas-energy-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/04\/07\/jean-michel-cousteau-speaks-out-on-climate-change-ab32-and-obamas-energy-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Jean-Michel Cousteau on Oceans, Energy, and Our Collective Fate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Explorer keeps his father’s legacy alive by shining a light on the world’s oceans
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The California coast near Pigeon Point.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When ocean explorer and documentary filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau<\/a> brought his environmental message to Silicon Valley, I caught up with him to discuss climate change<\/a>; President Obama\u2019s energy policy efforts<\/a>; and AB 32<\/a>, California\u2019s response to climate change.<\/p>\n

Jean-Michel Cousteau is the son of legendary ocean explorer, Jacques Cousteau<\/a>, and chairman of Ocean Futures Society<\/a>, a non-profit dedicated to exploring, protecting and educating people about the world’s oceans. He was vocal in condemning BP<\/a> for its Gulf oil spill and has frequently highlighted the link<\/a> between climate change and the state of our oceans and coastline.<\/p>\n

A native of France, he now calls Santa Barbara home and describes California\u2019s response to climate change \u2013 its Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) and proposed cap and trade system<\/a> \u2013 as steps in the right direction. But he also explained why<\/a> we need to do a lot more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an issue of understanding and changing our ways,\u201d he said. \u201cCreating new ways of serving our needs and taking care of the environment at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s talking specifically about renewable energy and points out that algae are fueling US Navy ships<\/a> and commercial airliners<\/a>. He emphasizes the advances being made in solar and wind energy and even cites a hotel in Bora Bora<\/a> that is using temperature differences in the ocean depths to power its air conditioning system — all this without petroleum and its hefty environmental impact.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The son of Jacques Cousteau considers himself the "voice of the ocean."<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Surprisingly, despite his dives to examine the BP oil spill devastation<\/a>\u00a0in the Gulf of Mexico, Cousteau still had good things to say about Big Oil, pointing out that oil companies like Shell, Total and BP are investing in renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraditional industries are coming to understand that whether it\u2019s nuclear [or] traditional oil and gas, in the end it\u2019s going to be in their best interests to slowly adopt other ways of collecting energy, renewable energy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also emphasized that Americans are consuming more energy per capita than anywhere else in the world and that before we criticize other heavy CO2 emitters, like China, we must look closer to home.<\/p>\n

[module align=”left” width=”half” type=”pull-quote”]\u201cLet\u2019s not forget that when you point a finger, there are three fingers pointing at you.”[\/module]<\/p>\n

So, in the ocean explorer\u2019s view, is President Obama doing the right thing<\/em> in response to climate change?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really has to convince our decision makers, in government and in industry, that things have to change,\u201d he said and even offered his assistance to the president.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can help I will do that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s done it before. Cousteau made former President George W. Bush an unlikely environmental hero, at least in the mid-Pacific. In 2006, Cousteau showed Voyage to Kure<\/a><\/em>, his documentary about the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, (co-produced<\/a> by KQED Public Television) at the White House. Shortly after, Bush designated<\/a> the 140,000 square mile stretch the world\u2019s largest marine conservation area.<\/p>\n

If he gets to revisit the White House this year and discuss climate change and energy policy with President Obama, he might be wise to repeat his father\u2019s mantra: \u201cThe impossible missions are the only ones which succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Explorer keeps his father’s legacy alive by shining a light on the world’s oceans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10333,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[116,147,396,401,467],"coauthors":[],"series":[],"affiliates":[],"programs":[],"collections":[],"interests":[],"class_list":["post-20954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-business","category-thescience","tag-climate-change","tag-cousteau","tag-obamas-energy-policy","tag-oceans","tag-renewable"],"acf":{"template_type":"standard","featured_image_type":"standard","is_audio_post":false},"yoast_head":"\nJean-Michel Cousteau on Oceans, Energy, and Our Collective Fate | Climate Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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