English - The oil spill's unseen culprits, victims | Carl Safina | TEDxOilSpill

English subtitles

← The oil spill's unseen culprits, victims | Carl Safina | TEDxOilSpill

3 Followers
352 Lines

The Gulf oil spill dwarfs comprehension, but we know this much: it's bad. Carl Safina scrapes out the facts in this blood-boiling cross-examination, arguing that the consequences will stretch far beyond the Gulf -- and many so-called solutions are making the situation worse.

7 Languages

Edit Subtitles

Download

Showing Revision 3 created 12/15/2016 by TED Translators admin.

Title:
The oil spill's unseen culprits, victims | Carl Safina | TEDxOilSpill
Description:

The Gulf oil spill dwarfs comprehension, but we know this much: it's bad. Carl Safina scrapes out the facts in this blood-boiling cross-examination, arguing that the consequences will stretch far beyond the Gulf -- and many so-called solutions are making the situation worse.
16358 0:16 - 0:18

This is the ocean as I used to know it.
19225 0:19 - 0:23

And I find that since I've been
in the Gulf a couple of times,
23462 0:23 - 0:28

I really kind of am traumatized
because whenever I look at the ocean now,
27986 0:28 - 0:30

no matter where I am,
30471 0:30 - 0:34

even where I know
that none of the oil has gone,
34400 0:34 - 0:36

I sort of see slicks,
36400 0:36 - 0:41

and I'm finding that I'm very much
haunted by it.
42066 0:42 - 0:44

But what I want to talk to you about today
44286 0:44 - 0:48

is a lot of things that try
to put all of this in context,
47840 0:48 - 0:54

not just about the oil eruption,
but what it means and why it has happened.
53838 0:54 - 0:55

First, just a little bit about me.
55497 0:55 - 0:58

I'm basically just a guy
that likes to go fishing
58033 0:58 - 1:01

ever since I was a little kid,
and because I did,
61013 1:01 - 1:03

I wound up studying sea birds
63104 1:03 - 1:07

to try to stay in the coastal habitats
that I so loved.
66550 1:07 - 1:11

And now I mainly write books
about how the ocean is changing,
71160 1:11 - 1:14

and the ocean is certainly
changing very rapidly.
74084 1:14 - 1:20

Now we saw this graphic earlier on,
that we really live on a hard marble
79921 1:20 - 1:23

that has just a slight bit
of wetness to it.
83400 1:23 - 1:26

It's like you dipped a marble in water.
85666 1:26 - 1:28

And the same thing with the atmosphere:
87757 1:28 - 1:31

If you took all the atmosphere
and rolled it up in a ball,
91006 1:31 - 1:34

you would get that little sphere
of gas on the right.
93948 1:34 - 1:39

So we live on the most fragile
little soap bubble you can imagine,
99201 1:39 - 1:44

a very sacred soap bubble,
but one that is very, very easy to affect.
103988 1:44 - 1:49

And all the burning of oil and coal
and gas, all the fossil fuels,
108859 1:49 - 1:51

have changed the atmosphere greatly.
111052 1:51 - 1:54

Carbon dioxide level
has gone up and up and up.
113997 1:54 - 1:56

We're warming the climate.
116338 1:56 - 1:58

So the blowout in the Gulf
118373 1:58 - 2:03

is just a little piece
of a much larger problem
122542 2:03 - 2:07

that we have with the energy
that we use to run civilization.
126640 2:07 - 2:08

Beyond warming,
128095 2:08 - 2:12

we have the problem
of the oceans getting more acidified...
131813 2:12 - 2:16

And already measurably so,
and already affecting animals.
136600 2:17 - 2:23

Now in the laboratory, if you take a clam
and you put it in the pH that is not 8.1,
143052 2:23 - 2:27

which is the normal pH
of seawater, but 7.5,
146803 2:27 - 2:29

it dissolves in about three days.
149433 2:29 - 2:33

If you take a sea urchin larva from 8.1,
153252 2:33 - 2:38

put it in a pH of 7.7...
Not a huge change...
157568 2:38 - 2:40

It becomes deformed and dies.
160245 2:40 - 2:47

Already, commercial oyster larvae
are dying at large scales in some places.
167647 2:48 - 2:52

Coral reefs are growing slower
in some places because of this problem.
172006 2:52 - 2:54

So this really matters.
173642 2:54 - 2:58

Now, let's take a little tour
around the Gulf a little bit.
178023 2:58 - 3:01

One of the things that really impresses me
about the people in the Gulf:
181436 3:01 - 3:04

They are really, really aquatic people.
183748 3:04 - 3:05

And they can handle water.
185400 3:05 - 3:08

They can handle a hurricane
that comes and goes.
188056 3:08 - 3:10

When the water goes down,
they know what to do.
190400 3:10 - 3:15

But when it's something other than water,
and their water habitat changes,
195180 3:15 - 3:17

they don't have many options.
196853 3:17 - 3:21

In fact, those entire communities
really don't have many options.
200935 3:21 - 3:24

They don't have another thing they can do.
203595 3:24 - 3:28

They can't go and work
in the local hotel business
207692 3:28 - 3:30

because there isn't one
in their community.
211922 3:32 - 3:36

If you go to the Gulf and you look around,
you do see a lot of oil.
216404 3:36 - 3:38

You see a lot of oil on the ocean.
218277 3:38 - 3:40

You see a lot of oil on the shoreline.
220400 3:40 - 3:44

If you go to the site of the blowout,
it looks pretty unbelievable.
224400 3:44 - 3:47

It looks like you just emptied
the oil pan in your car,
227400 3:47 - 3:50

and you just dumped it in the ocean.
229695 3:50 - 3:53

And one of the really
most incredible things, I think,
232584 3:53 - 3:56

is that there's nobody out there
trying to collect it
236180 3:56 - 3:59

at the site where it is densest.
239797 4:00 - 4:04

Parts of the ocean there
look just absolutely apocalyptic.
245957 4:06 - 4:09

You go in along the shore,
you can find it everywhere.
250456 4:10 - 4:12

It's really messy.
251636 4:12 - 4:14

If you go to the places
where it's just arriving,
254031 4:14 - 4:16

like the eastern part
of the Gulf, in Alabama,
256490 4:16 - 4:18

there's still people using the beach
258399 4:18 - 4:21

while there are people
cleaning up the beach.
260567 4:21 - 4:23

And they have a very strange
way of cleaning up the beach.
263313 4:23 - 4:26

They're not allowed to put
more than 10 pounds of sand
265996 4:26 - 4:28

in a 50-gallon plastic bag.
267728 4:28 - 4:30

They have thousands
and thousands of plastic bags.
270108 4:30 - 4:32

I don't know what they'll do
with all that stuff.
272422 4:32 - 4:35

Meanwhile, there are still
people trying to use the beach.
275167 4:35 - 4:38

They don't see the sign
that says: "Stay out of the water."
277969 4:38 - 4:39

Their kids are in the water;
279422 4:39 - 4:42

they're getting tar all over
their clothes and their sandals...
282475 4:42 - 4:44

It's a mess.
283710 4:44 - 4:47

If you go to where the oil has been
for a while, it's an even bigger mess.
287238 4:47 - 4:50

And there's basically
nobody there anymore,
289646 4:50 - 4:53

a few people trying to keep using it.
293058 4:53 - 4:55

You see people who are really
shell-shocked.
295420 4:55 - 4:57

They are very hardworking people.
297433 4:57 - 5:00

All they know about life
is they get up in the morning,
300067 5:00 - 5:02

and if their engine starts,
they go to work.
302387 5:02 - 5:07

They always felt that
they could rely on the assurances
306700 5:07 - 5:10

that nature brought them
through the ecosystem of the Gulf.
310014 5:10 - 5:13

They're finding that their world
is really collapsing.
312830 5:13 - 5:19

And so you can see, literally,
signs of their shock...
320300 5:20 - 5:23

signs of their outrage...
325922 5:26 - 5:28

signs of their anger...
332621 5:33 - 5:35

and signs of their grief.
336134 5:36 - 5:38

These are the things that you can see.
340300 5:40 - 5:44

There's a lot you can't see,
also, underwater.
344926 5:45 - 5:47

What's going on underwater?
346819 5:47 - 5:50

Well, some people say
there are oil plumes.
350452 5:50 - 5:53

Some people say there are not oil plumes.
354123 5:54 - 5:56

And Congressman Markey asks, you know,
356498 5:56 - 6:01

"Is it going to take a submarine ride
to see if there are really oil plumes?"
362027 6:02 - 6:04

But I couldn't take a submarine ride...
363962 6:04 - 6:08

Especially between the time I knew
I was coming here and today...
368075 6:08 - 6:11

So I had to do a little experiment myself
371300 6:11 - 6:14

to see if there was oil
in the Gulf of Mexico.
373710 6:14 - 6:15

So this is the Gulf of Mexico...
376636 6:17 - 6:18

sparkling place full of fish.
379711 6:20 - 6:22

And I created a little oil spill
in the Gulf of Mexico.
383174 6:23 - 6:26

And I learned, in fact,
I confirmed the hypothesis
385898 6:26 - 6:28

that oil and water don't mix...
389609 6:30 - 6:32

until you add a dispersant...
393388 6:33 - 6:35

and then...
396190 6:36 - 6:38

they start mixing.
398709 6:39 - 6:43

And you add a little energy
from the wind and the waves,
402954 6:43 - 6:46

and you get a big mess,
406273 6:46 - 6:49

a big mess that you can't possibly clean,
409432 6:49 - 6:52

you can't touch, you can't extract
412477 6:52 - 6:56

and, I think most importantly...
This is what I think...
415766 6:56 - 6:57

You can't see it.
417300 6:57 - 7:01

I think it's being hidden on purpose.
420658 7:01 - 7:03

Now this is such a catastrophe
and such a mess
423300 7:03 - 7:07

that lots of stuff is leaking out
on the edges of the information stream.
426994 7:07 - 7:09

But as many people have said,
428675 7:09 - 7:12

there's a large attempt
to suppress what's going on.
431809 7:12 - 7:19

Personally, I think that the dispersants
are a major strategy to hide the body,
438805 7:19 - 7:22

because we put the murderer
in charge of the crime scene.
442870 7:23 - 7:24

But you can see it.
444300 7:24 - 7:28

You can see where the oil
is concentrated at the surface,
448512 7:29 - 7:31

and then it is attacked,
451167 7:31 - 7:34

because they don't want
the evidence, in my opinion.
454677 7:35 - 7:36

OK.
456198 7:36 - 7:38

We heard that bacteria eat oil?
458719 7:39 - 7:40

So do sea turtles.
460825 7:41 - 7:42

When it breaks up,
462257 7:42 - 7:46

it has a long way to go
before it gets down to bacteria.
466196 7:46 - 7:49

Turtles eat it.
It gets in the gills of fish.
469300 7:49 - 7:52

These guys have to swim around through it.
471581 7:52 - 7:56

I heard the most incredible story today
when I was on the train coming here.
476999 7:57 - 7:59

A writer named Ted Williams called me,
479823 8:00 - 8:03

and he was asking me
a couple of questions about what I saw,
482731 8:03 - 8:06

because he's writing an article
for Audubon magazine.
485898 8:06 - 8:10

He said that he had been in the Gulf
a little while ago; like about a week ago,
489669 8:10 - 8:14

and a guy who had
been a recreational fishing guide
493607 8:14 - 8:16

took him out to show him what's going on.
496300 8:16 - 8:21

That guide's entire calendar year
is canceled bookings.
501300 8:21 - 8:23

He has no bookings left.
503237 8:23 - 8:26

Everybody wanted their deposit back,
everybody is fleeing.
506300 8:26 - 8:28

That's the story of thousands of people.
508291 8:28 - 8:33

But he told Ted
that on the last day he went out,
513924 8:34 - 8:38

a bottlenose dolphin
suddenly appeared next to the boat,
518067 8:38 - 8:42

and it was splattering oil
out its blowhole.
523238 8:43 - 8:48

And he moved away
because it was his last fishing trip,
529099 8:49 - 8:51

and he knew that the dolphins scare fish.
531300 8:51 - 8:55

So he moved away from it,
turned around a few minutes later,
535208 8:55 - 8:57

it was right next to the side
of the boat again.
537479 8:57 - 9:01

He said that in 30 years of fishing
he had never seen a dolphin do that.
540924 9:01 - 9:02

And he felt that...
542993 9:03 - 9:04

(Sigh)
544220 9:04 - 9:08

he felt that it was
coming to ask for help.
548238 9:08 - 9:09

Sorry.
550692 9:11 - 9:15

Now, in the Exxon Valdez spill,
555160 9:15 - 9:20

about 30 percent of the killer whales
died in the first few months.
559938 9:20 - 9:22

Their numbers have never recovered.
561882 9:22 - 9:27

So the recovery rate of all this stuff
is going to be variable.
566771 9:27 - 9:30

It's going to take longer for some things.
569620 9:30 - 9:33

And some things, I think,
will probably come back a little faster.
573573 9:34 - 9:36

The other thing about the Gulf
that is important
576300 9:36 - 9:40

is that there are a lot of animals
that concentrate in the Gulf
579789 9:40 - 9:42

at certain parts of the year.
583122 9:43 - 9:46

So the Gulf is a really
important piece of water...
585753 9:46 - 9:51

More important than a similar volume
of water in the open Atlantic Ocean.
591300 9:51 - 9:53

These tuna swim the entire ocean.
593300 9:53 - 9:56

They get in the Gulf Stream,
they go all the way to Europe.
596097 9:56 - 9:58

When it comes time to spawn,
they come inside,
598289 9:58 - 10:00

and these two tuna that were tagged,
600038 10:00 - 10:02

you can see them on the spawning grounds
602162 10:02 - 10:05

very much right in the area of the slick.
604891 10:05 - 10:07

They're probably having,
at the very least,
607400 10:07 - 10:10

a catastrophic spawning season this year.
610177 10:10 - 10:14

I'm hoping that maybe the adults
are avoiding that dirty water.
614017 10:14 - 10:18

They don't usually like to go into water
that is very cloudy anyway.
618448 10:18 - 10:22

But these are really
high-performance athletic animals.
622264 10:22 - 10:26

I don't know what this kind of stuff
will do in their gills.
625530 10:26 - 10:27

I don't know if it'll affect the adults.
627500 10:28 - 10:30

If it's not, it's certainly affecting
their eggs and larvae,
630341 10:30 - 10:32

I would certainly think.
631552 10:32 - 10:35

But if you look at that graph
that goes down and down and down,
634919 10:35 - 10:40

that's what we've done to this species
through overfishing over many decades.
639664 10:40 - 10:45

So while the oil spill, the leak,
the eruption, is a catastrophe,
644845 10:45 - 10:48

I think it's important to keep in mind
647602 10:48 - 10:52

that we've done a lot to affect
what's in the ocean, for a very long time.
651742 10:52 - 10:55

It's not like we're starting
with something that's been OK.
655104 10:55 - 10:58

We're starting with something
that's had a lot of stresses
657864 10:58 - 11:00

and a lot of problems to begin with.
659750 11:00 - 11:04

If you look around at the birds,
there are a lot of birds in the Gulf
663800 11:04 - 11:07

that concentrate in the Gulf
at certain times of the year,
666591 11:07 - 11:08

but then leave.
667899 11:08 - 11:11

And they populate much larger areas.
672687 11:13 - 11:17

For instance, most of the birds
in this picture are migratory birds.
676901 11:17 - 11:19

They were all on the Gulf in May,
678767 11:19 - 11:22

while oil was starting
to come ashore in certain places.
681908 11:22 - 11:26

Down on the lower left there
are ruddy turnstones and sanderlings.
686487 11:26 - 11:28

They breed in the High Arctic,
688234 11:28 - 11:31

and they winter
down in southern South America.
690820 11:31 - 11:36

But they concentrate in the Gulf
and then fan out all across the Arctic.
695655 11:36 - 11:39

I saw birds that breed
in Greenland, in the Gulf.
700152 11:40 - 11:44

So this is a hemispheric issue.
703587 11:44 - 11:48

The economic effects
go at least nationally in many ways.
708407 11:48 - 11:51

The biological effects
are certainly hemispheric.
714167 11:54 - 11:59

I think that this is one of the most
absolutely mind-boggling examples
719384 11:59 - 12:02

of total unpreparedness
that I can even think of.
722220 12:02 - 12:06

Even when the Japanese
bombed Pearl Harbor,
726142 12:06 - 12:08

at least they shot back.
727573 12:08 - 12:12

And we just seem to be unable
to figure out what to do.
731680 12:12 - 12:15

There was nothing ready,
735340 12:15 - 12:19

and, you know, as we can see
by what they're doing.
738754 12:19 - 12:22

Mainly what they're doing
is booms and dispersants.
741542 12:22 - 12:25

The booms are absolutely
not made for open water.
745318 12:25 - 12:30

They don't even attempt to corral
the oil where it is most concentrated.
750183 12:30 - 12:32

They get near shore...
Look at these two boats.
752441 12:32 - 12:35

That one on the right
is called Fishing Fool.
755089 12:35 - 12:37

And I think, you know, that's a great name
757123 12:37 - 12:40

for boats that think
that they're going to do anything
760205 12:40 - 12:43

to make a dent in this,
by dragging a boom between them
763301 12:43 - 12:46

when there are literally
hundreds of thousands of square miles
766289 12:46 - 12:49

in the Gulf right now
with oil at the surface.
769194 12:49 - 12:53

The dispersants make the oil
go right under the booms.
772968 12:53 - 12:56

The booms are only
about 13 inches in diameter.
777167 12:57 - 13:00

So it's just absolutely crazy.
780217 13:00 - 13:02

Here are shrimp boats employed.
781935 13:02 - 13:06

There are hundreds of shrimp boats
employed to drag booms instead of nets.
785900 13:06 - 13:07

Here they are working.
787247 13:07 - 13:09

You can see easily
789068 13:09 - 13:13

that all the oily water
just goes over the back of the boom.
792987 13:13 - 13:15

All they're doing is stirring it.
794961 13:15 - 13:17

It's just ridiculous.
798404 13:18 - 13:21

Also, for all the shoreline
that has booms...
800533 13:21 - 13:23

Hundreds and hundreds
of miles of shoreline...
802728 13:23 - 13:25

All of the shoreline that has booms,
804533 13:25 - 13:27

there's adjacent shoreline
that doesn't have any booms.
807243 13:27 - 13:32

There is ample opportunity for oil
and dirty water to get in behind them.
812300 13:32 - 13:36

And that lower photo,
that's a bird colony that has been boomed.
816147 13:36 - 13:41

Everybody's trying to protect
the bird colonies there.
820740 13:41 - 13:46

Well, as an ornithologist,
I can tell you that birds fly, and that...
825995 13:46 - 13:48

(Laughter)
830971 13:51 - 13:56

and that booming a bird colony
doesn't do it; it doesn't do it.
836300 13:56 - 14:00

These birds make a living
by diving into the water.
840923 14:01 - 14:02

In fact...
843440 14:03 - 14:07

really what I think
they should do, if anything...
846607 14:07 - 14:10

They're trying so hard
to protect those nests...
849768 14:10 - 14:12

Actually, if they destroyed
every single nest,
852465 14:12 - 14:15

some of the birds would leave,
854525 14:15 - 14:17

and that would be better
for them this year.
857715 14:18 - 14:19

As far as cleaning them...
860301 14:20 - 14:25

I don't mean to cast any aspersion
on people cleaning birds.
865258 14:25 - 14:29

It's really, really important
that we express our compassion.
869182 14:29 - 14:33

I think that's the most important
thing that people have, is compassion.
873326 14:33 - 14:37

It's really important
to get those images and to show it.
877300 14:37 - 14:41

But really, where are those birds
going to get released to?
880699 14:41 - 14:43

It's like taking somebody
out of a burning building,
883168 14:43 - 14:45

treating them for smoke inhalation
884832 14:45 - 14:49

and sending them back into the building,
because the oil is still gushing.
888986 14:49 - 14:53

I refuse to acknowledge this
as anything like an accident.
892902 14:53 - 14:56

I think that this is the result
of gross negligence.
896513 14:57 - 15:01

(Applause)
901648 15:02 - 15:04

Not just BP.
903955 15:04 - 15:11

BP operated very sloppily
and very recklessly because they could.
910636 15:11 - 15:13

And they were allowed to do so
912607 15:13 - 15:17

because of the absolute failure
of oversight of the government
917024 15:17 - 15:21

that is supposed to be
our government, protecting us.
923605 15:24 - 15:25

It turns out that...
925138 15:25 - 15:28

You see this sign on every commercial
vessel in the United States...
928393 15:28 - 15:31

You know, if you spilled
a couple of gallons of oil,
931019 15:31 - 15:32

you would be in big trouble.
932422 15:32 - 15:37

And you have to really wonder
who are the laws made for,
937053 15:37 - 15:41

and who has gotten above the laws.
940749 15:41 - 15:43

And there are things
that we can do in the future.
943124 15:43 - 15:46

We could have the kinds of equipment
that we would really need.
946200 15:46 - 15:49

It would not take
an awful lot to anticipate
949176 15:49 - 15:52

that after making 30,000 holes
951595 15:52 - 15:54

in the sea floor of the Gulf
of Mexico looking for oil,
954444 15:54 - 15:57

oil might start coming out of one of them.
956861 15:57 - 16:00

And you'd have some idea of what to do.
960045 16:00 - 16:02

That's certainly
one of the things we need to do.
962360 16:02 - 16:06

But I think we have to understand
where this leak really started from.
967300 16:07 - 16:13

It really started from the destruction
of the idea that the government is there
972671 16:13 - 16:14

because it's our government,
974410 16:14 - 16:17

meant to protect
the larger public interest.
981300 16:21 - 16:25

So I think that the oil blowout,
the bank bailout,
985940 16:26 - 16:33

the mortgage crisis and all these things
are absolutely symptoms of the same cause.
993536 16:34 - 16:36

We still seem to understand that at least,
996429 16:36 - 16:41

we need the police to protect us
from a few bad people.
1000843 16:41 - 16:44

And even though the police
can be a little annoying at times...
1003870 16:44 - 16:46

Giving us tickets and stuff like that...
1005805 16:46 - 16:48

Nobody says that we should
just get rid of them.
1008354 16:48 - 16:51

But in the entire rest
of government right now
1011300 16:51 - 16:53

and for the last at least 30 years,
1013186 16:53 - 16:56

there has been a culture of deregulation
1016300 16:56 - 17:02

that is caused directly by the people
who we need to be protected from,
1022254 17:02 - 17:05

buying the government out from under us.
1025563 17:06 - 17:13

(Applause)
1035221 17:15 - 17:18

Now this has been a problem
for a very, very long time.
1038464 17:18 - 17:24

You can see that corporations were illegal
at the founding of America,
1043848 17:24 - 17:27

and even Thomas Jefferson complained
1046579 17:27 - 17:32

that they were already bidding defiance
to the laws of our country.
1053462 17:33 - 17:36

OK, people who say they're conservative,
1056991 17:37 - 17:42

if they really wanted to be
really conservative and patriotic,
1061828 17:42 - 17:45

they would tell
these corporations to go to hell.
1065483 17:45 - 17:48

That's what it would really mean
to be conservative.
1069107 17:49 - 17:54

So what we really need to do
is regain the idea
1073829 17:54 - 17:57

that it's our government
safeguarding our interests,
1077068 17:57 - 18:01

and regain a sense of unity
and common cause in our country
1081300 18:01 - 18:03

that really has been lost.
1084232 18:04 - 18:06

I think there are signs of hope.
1086186 18:06 - 18:08

We seem to be waking up a little bit.
1088715 18:09 - 18:12

The Glass-Steagall Act...
Which was really to protect us
1091751 18:12 - 18:15

from the kind of thing
that caused the recession to happen,
1094801 18:15 - 18:18

and the bank meltdown and all that stuff
that required the bailouts...
1098517 18:19 - 18:23

That was put in effect in 1933,
was systematically destroyed.
1103237 18:23 - 18:27

Now there's a mood to put
some of that stuff back in place,
1106998 18:27 - 18:32

but the lobbyists are already there
trying to weaken the regulations
1111543 18:32 - 18:34

after the legislation has just passed.
1114300 18:34 - 18:36

So it's a continued fight.
1116300 18:36 - 18:38

It's a historic moment right now.
1118372 18:38 - 18:42

We're either going to have an absolutely
unmitigated catastrophe
1122409 18:42 - 18:44

of this oil leak in the Gulf,
1124070 18:44 - 18:47

or we will make the moment
we need out of this,
1126740 18:47 - 18:48

as many people have noted today.
1128431 18:48 - 18:50

There's certainly a common theme
1130111 18:50 - 18:53

about needing to make
the moment out of this.
1132542 18:53 - 18:57

We've been through this before
with other ways of offshore drilling.
1136581 18:57 - 18:59

The first offshore wells
were called whales.
1139605 19:00 - 19:02

The first offshore drills
were called harpoons.
1142487 19:02 - 19:05

We emptied the ocean
of the whales at that time.
1146035 19:06 - 19:08

Now are we stuck with this?
1147755 19:08 - 19:12

Ever since we lived in caves,
every time we wanted any energy,
1151691 19:12 - 19:15

we lit something on fire,
and that is still what we're doing.
1155266 19:15 - 19:19

We're still lighting something on fire
every time we want energy.
1159890 19:20 - 19:23

And people say we can't have clean energy
1163399 19:23 - 19:26

because it's too expensive.
1166300 19:26 - 19:28

Who says it's too expensive?
1168096 19:28 - 19:30

People who sell us fossil fuels.
1170378 19:30 - 19:33

We've been here before with energy,
1173300 19:33 - 19:37

and people saying the economy
cannot withstand a switch,
1177425 19:37 - 19:41

because the cheapest energy was slavery.
1180661 19:41 - 19:43

Energy is always a moral issue.
1183442 19:43 - 19:46

It's an issue that is moral right now.
1185731 19:46 - 19:48

It's a matter of right and wrong.
1188298 19:48 - 19:49

Thank you very much.
1189490 19:49 - 19:51

(Applause)

Add a new language!

This video is in English

English subtitles

← The oil spill's unseen culprits, victims | Carl Safina | TEDxOilSpill

Embed video

Share