The Jean-Michel Cousteau Dispatch
April 2011 Issue
Earth Day is fast approaching and even though everyday we should reflect and appreciate the gifts from Mother Earth; April 22nd is a day when people gather around the world to celebrate our connection to our water planet. At Ocean Futures Society we feel it is the golden opportunity to remind us all of the gifts and services the ocean provides us. But as we have enjoyed the free services of nature we have put tremendous pressure on natural resources and drained many of nature’s raw materials to a point of no return. But there is sense of hope we can not loose sight of. It starts with the heart, with knowledge and action to care.
We have all joined forces and expressed our sincerest condolences of the tragedy in Japan this past month. Because of our communication revolution: internet, social media international news sources; we have all been apart of this tragedy in real time; watching, listening and reacting to the people who have lost everything. We are reminded of the connection between the land, sea and atmosphere as we watch Japan’s nuclear plants leak hazardous materials directly in to the sea with so many unanswered questions of the long-term ramifications. It will indeed affect us all.
We are known as a society that reacts to crisis. And for the most part, we come together with solutions that assure us such events will hopefully never happen again. But we need a paradigm shift and we NEED to be more proactive in the development of industry and consumer products with nature and our water planet’s health in mind. We should never undermine what nature and the ocean have to offer. It is our life-support system. It starts with education and awareness. It is why we appreciate you, part of our membership force that helps guide us to provide information and a voice to a cause that we all hold near and dear to our hearts. I am continuously reminded of the ocean conservation movement my father, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, helped start decades ago. Before the words of ecology, environmental impacts and sustainability were common house-hold topics of discussion, my father was meeting with politicians, industry leaders and the science community; expressing his grave concerns over the downward spiral the human species was facing caused by a lack of knowledge and understanding of the impact our actions have on the planet. During his last public appearance, he compassionately communicated to a crowd of hundreds, “We need a more active army of people who love the sea, understand that there is no life without water and that we have to put all our efforts in saving whatever can be done for the future generations.” May this Earth Day be a celebration of all the goodness our Water Planet provides for us. May we rethink our relationship to Mother Earth and all do our part to make this the best Earth Day celebration yet.
Warm Regards, 
Jean-Michel Cousteau, President
| 
