In November 1998, there was a two-day National Ocean Conference to discuss the health of the oceans off of the United States, the first of its kind in thirty years⁶. This was a kind of breakthrough for the Ocean community. It also helped that [then] President Clinton and [then] Vice President Al Gore were going to attend, showing the nation that there was going to be legislative action behind this meeting⁷. Governor, have you ever attended an Ocean Conference? Of any kind? That answer is no. Governor, you should take tips from retired Mayor Jeremy Harris, the former mayor of Honolulu. Mayor Harris blames uncontrolled urban sprawl for the destruction of the oceans. He states that the infrastructure of urban areas cannot cope with the by-products of urban lifestyle such as various wastes, transportation, and energy⁸. Ideas from Harris' article "Saving Our Oceans-An Urban Challenge" can easily be implemented in major urban cities in California. Harris suggests we use legislation to save the natural world, specifically our oceans⁹. That is my main suggestion for California: to pass laws and certain acts that make "green" more attractive. Tax breaks could be offered to contractors, builders, and landscapers who use "green" material and "green" appliances such as low-flush toilets, low-energy light bulbs, and using drought resistant plants and low-water, high-efficiency sprinkler system to landscape the building. California could also pass laws requiring such action to be taken. If not, the offender would have to pay a tax. History has shown us that people usually do not do anything until there is an incentive, whether positive or negative. By requiring low-energy and low-water resources to be used, this will reduce the by-products (wastes) of these activities. Namely, carbon dioxide; which is a by-product of most energy and water intensive activities. By reducing the atmospheric carbon dioxide, we reduce the amount that is deposited into the oceans, allowing the oceans to filter and dilute and absorb waste as they should. As you can see, Governor, one thing always leads to another, for good or for bad.

    Not only would destroying the oceans disrupt the climate and harm our crop, but it would also harm another important service of California: tourism. Coastal Southern California earns a large portion of its revenue from tourism. For Southern Californians, the welfare of the beach is just as important as the health of the San Joaquin Valley for Northern Californians. As Leon E. Panetta and James D. Watkins explain in there essay "Go Green by Thinking Blue", "Daily contamination of beaches makes them unfit for swimming and fishing, which have a dramatic impoact on coastal economies that depend on tourism to thrive. Imagine how much revenue a coastal vacation town loses in just one day when the beach is closed at the height of the summer tourists season."¹⁰ California is full of these little tourists towns that rely on tourism to bolster their local economies. If the oceans are polluted, that makes the beach unfit for swimming, surfing, boogy-boarding, tanning, and other beach activities that interact with the ocean. In coastal cities with large populations that rely on tourism (like Los Angeles and San Diego), the deteriorating health of the oceans means a direct drop in the local economy. Again, my taking small steps such as tax incentives, the detrimental effects of pollution will slow, maybe stop, and hopefully reverse itself in the future. 

     In conclusion, we need to save the oceans if we want to have any chance of saving California. Save Our Oceans is an organization that is trying to do just that, and they understand that saving our oceans mean saving our state, "The California coast is a prime candidate for marine protected areas that scientists have recommended to reverse damage and depletion of ocean ecosystems"¹¹. Not only does this show that California is worth saving, but it also tells us that prevention is usually cheaper and less time consuming than clean-up. Parallel to this thinking, Save Our Oceans also tells us that fish in protected areas tend to grow bigger and thus earn more money per fish.¹² By protecting the inhabitants of the ocean, we secure a future for ourselves. Speaking of the future, has any action been taken that you, as our Governor, could take tips form? Thankfully, there is some hope for the oceans, Today [July 9, 2008] Congress took decisive action to reverse that by overwhelmingly approving the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act of 2007 (FOARAM, H.R. 4174).  Championed by Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA-03), when signed into law it will charge the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology with overseeing the planning, establishment, and coordination of a plan to improve the understanding of ocean acidification and its impact on marine ecosystems¹³. Essentially, this means that Congressman Brian Baird decided that enough was enough and had a law enacted that monitored the acidification of the oceans more closely than before. As you remember, the acidification of oceans occur because of excess carbon dioxide, usually produced as waste products from urban lifestyle.

   Everything that I have said so far are from old people who are seeing what the oceans have become from what they were in the "good ol' days". But, what about younger people? Are they seeing the same things. They are, and they also realize that "the most difficult part would be to make DC care."¹⁴ Governor Schwarzenegger, you are the DC of California. Without you, the oceans will never be saved. My advice to you is to implement tax incentives that promote "green" thinking in order to cut down on carbon dioxide by-products that contaminate the ocean, thus destroying the economy. That is my humble advice to you, I only ask that you consider it and hopefully you will choose the right course of action for California.

Thank you for you time,

Kylie Langlois