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"Nunca Mais" - Never Again! {Jean-Michel Cousteau is chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ocean Futures Society, established in 1999. Previously he was founder and president of the Jean-Michel Cousteau Institute. For over 60 years, Jean-Michel and his father, Jacques Cousteau, have been exploring the oceans of the world. The oil spill from the tanker Prestige in November 2002 fouled the coasts of Spain, Portugal and France. After filming a documentary about the spill's effects, Cousteau wrote this call to action, with the intention of creating the will to change.} For decades, we citizens of the global village have patiently endured the complacency of our decision makers. This is especially true on matters of sound environmental policy to protect our oceans. With the Prestige oil spill tragedy, which continues to devastate the coastlines of Spain, Portugal and France, we can no longer afford to remain idle. We can no longer rely solely on slow moving political processes to solve an ongoing disaster of monumental proportions. And, we can no longer ignore our own power as individuals to do something about this desperate situation. We must declare "nunca mais" - never again! We know what the problems are, we know what the solutions are, but what we need is the will to change. We now have a unique opportunity, because of the Prestige, to bring about global change in the legislation that bans single-hulled tankers to prevent oil spill catastrophes.
Why haven't the lessons of the past provided the motivation to properly manage our own behavior toward Nature? And, what does it take to develop the will to change? Perhaps the lessons we learned from previous oil-spill disasters only "skimmed the surface." The information made available to the world did not go into detail and explore the real long term problems associated with oil spills. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez accident provided the public with heart wrenching images of injured, dead and dying animals. The immediate focus was made for television - wildlife by the millions killed or harmed, spoiled beaches and oil company employees and volunteers hand cleaning oil soaked rocks, one by one. Once the oil was out of sight, it was out of the publics' and our politicians' minds. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez accident provided the public with images of spoiled beaches and oil company employees cleaning oil-soaked rocks using high pressure, hot water washing to clean an oiled shoreline. My team and I were on site in Alaska for six months after the spill. We not only filmed the massive damage to the marine environment, but also the little known, insidious effects on people and the local community. In the years following the spill, the social structure of that community was dramatically affected. The fishing industry was profoundly disturbed, mental illness rose sharply, the divorce rate skyrocketed, young people left home due to lack of employment opportunities, alcoholism increased, drugs were introduced at alarming rates, jails became full. These circumstances were directly caused by the oil spill, yet went unseen in the news.
In the halls of governments around the world, legislation for the safe transport of oil and the prevention of future disasters went largely unchanged, save for the United States. The U.S. Congress enacted the Oil Pollution Act in 1990 (OPA 90). OPA 90 established a double hull requirement and a liberal phaseout schedule by 2015. The phaseout schedule for existing single hulled vessels, depending on the size and age of a vessel, began in 1995 and ends in 2010. Single hulled vessels with double bottoms or sides may continue to operate until 2015. Regrettably, some owners are circumventing the spirit and intent of OPA 90 and its phase-out schedule. Many owners have sought, obtained, and continue to seek waivers, exceptions and "workarounds" to extend the operational lives of tankers beyond the phase-out schedule and well beyond the average age that tankers are scrapped on the international market. Clearly, the lessons of the past are not being followed with serious consideration. In the decade following the Exxon Valdez, there were several other oil spills to remind us of the need for change. Most notable were the grounding of the Greek tanker Aegean Sea in 1992, releasing 21.5 million gallons of crude oil off northwestern Spain, the Sea Empress off Wales, spilling 18 million gallons in 1996 and the 1999 Erika oil disaster off France's Brittany coast. The Erika spill was not ordinary - 25 years prior, the Amoco Cadiz spill also spoiled over 100 miles of the Brittany coastline. And, Erika was not an ordinary tanker. She had an Italian owner, French cargo, a Maltese flag of convenience, and an Indian crew. After 25 years of service for the multinational oil companies, and having changed name seven times, and having been under three different flags of convenience, this singled-hulled, poorly maintained vessel sank during her final voyage. Erika poured three million gallons of heavy refined oil into the sea when it broke in two, washing up along 250 miles of coastline and killing an estimated 100,000 seabirds. She rests beneath 120 meters of water, 70 kilometers south of Penmarc'h in Finistére off the coast of Brittany, France, in the midst of one of the richest fishing grounds in the Atlantic Ocean. The Amoco Cadiz ran aground off the coast of Brittany, France on March 16, 1978, spilling 68.7 million gallons of oil. As the Erika slipped beneath the waves, the associated problems slipped from our view, and slipped in terms of being an important political priority. Once again, any lessons learned quickly faded from the media and our consciousness, and were ignored by apathetic decision makers. In September 2000, Willem de Ruiter, the European Union's head of maritime safety, said at a conference in London that, despite the outcry over Erika, not a single new safety measure for tankers in European waters had been put in place. Efforts at reaching an informal agreement among oil companies to adhere to more stringent tanker requirements were met with a cold shoulder. Which brings us to our present predicament with the Prestige, offering what should be considered our final warning notice that something must change now. In the past, the Exxon Valdez directly affected thousands of people, both native and local Alaskans. The same could be said for the number of French citizens affected by the Erika. Right now, In Portugal, Spain, and France, along a very broad area along the Gascogne Gulf, tens of thousands of people are being affected and will be for decades to come. Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets of Madrid, joining in political protests urging "nunca mais" - never again! Will these angry cries finally be heard? Will the current political unrest in Spain and elsewhere be taken seriously? What more will it take to develop the will to change? The 1999 Erika oil disaster off France's Brittany coast was not ordinary - 25 years prior, the Amoco Cadiz also spill spoiled over 100 miles of the Brittany coastline, one of the richest fishing grounds in the Atlantic Ocean.
Ocean Futures Society team and I believe that knowledge is power. We know we must educate the public in order to cultivate the conviction to change. We are accomplishing the goal of keeping alive the issues and problems of human induced oil pollution through our new six minute film, "Nunca Mais." The documentary explores with sensitivity the plight of the Spanish people and features local eyewitnesses - residents, fishermen and environmentalists - living and working in the area. The viewer is introduced to individuals personally affected by the spill and their own accounts of the lesser known, devastating economic and social effects of the spill on their communities. "Nunca Mais" is an educational tool designed to keep the pressure on industry and to inspire legislation to responsibly protect the environment. It calls attention to the urgent need for proper management and strict enforcement of ocean going transportation, the creation of an international task force for urgent response to maritime accidents and a ban on single hulled tankers. A limited number of copies of "Nunca Mais" are available now to government officials, NGOs, local authorities, decision makers, the media, schools, and the public, to help inform people of the disaster brought about by oil spills. It is designed to inspire action so that this will not happen again. I am deeply touched by what I saw in Spain and France and I believe you will be too. If you would like to obtain a personal copy of "Nunca Mais," click here. Our work on "Nunca Mais" has inspired our team and me to go one step farther in expressing our will to change the political front in Europe and here in the United States. On February 2, 2003, I formally endorsed the United Nation's Declaration of Bizkaia on the Human Right to the Environment, during an event chaired by the President of the Regional Government of Bizkaia, Josu Bergara. I have given my complete support for the initiative to have the environment recognized as a new human right, and am committed to disseminating this proposal worldwide. In the United States, we are actively engaged in supporting new legislation for banning the use of single hulled tankers by 2007. The proposed law, introduced February 25 by Congresswoman Lois Capps of California's 23rd District, would enact stricter oil tanker safety regulations. The Stop Oil Spills Act (S.O.S. Act/HR 880) will accelerate the replacement of single hulled oil tankers with double hulled vessels, create a 100 mile coastal safety zone, and implement financial incentives for double hulled tanker use. If you would like to contact your local representative to show your support for HR880, click here. In the meantime, I will continue to heed the call to action brought about by my experience producing "Nunca Mais" and from having seen too many spills. I will go to as many local and government authorities and decisions makers worldwide as possible. I will insist that it is in their best interest to make and put into place new laws and regulations to safeguard our human right to a clean, healthy environment. And, I will call attention to the need to invest in and support the use of the sun and wind as sources of free, safe sustainable energy, freeing us of our dependence on oil once and for all. Learn more about Ocean Futures Society at: http://www.oceanfutures.org The Ocean Futures Society invites you to become a member - it's free! Visit: http://207.188.212.108/team/member.cfm The Ocean Futures Society invites your support with a tax-deductible contribution. Visit: https://ssl.charityweb.net/oceanfutures/ |
Jean-Michel Cousteau has worked for years to protect and preserve the world's oceans. (Photo courtesy Ocean Futures Society)
The Exxon Valdez (left) spills oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska. March 24, 1989. (Photo courtesy 
Jean-Michel Cousteau (center), on location in A Coruña, Spain to film "Nunca Mais" demonstrators and the socio-economic and environmental damage caused by the Prestige oil spill disaster. (Photo courtesy Ocean Futures Society)