To my fellow Americans, Happy 4th of July, if it can be.

Among the myriad of social, economic, and political turmoil we’re presently blessed with I want to draw particular attention to a new ideological battleground – where environmentalists are saving environmentalists from their attempt to save the environment.

Every movement – be it towards independence, social justice issues, religious freedoms, and so on – involves people putting their money where their mouth is and taking bold strides towards what they believe in and what is right. Those types of efforts are getting increasingly complicated to maneuver given just how big our population is, though technology – for better or worse – has seemed to help keep pace with helping people to connect and make change.

This 4th of July, I am encouraging all to think about a next wave of independence – energy independence. While we are certainly free from the reigns of the British, in many ways we remain enslaved by the very civilization that was created to preserve our independence and security. We have a political system that moves at a snail’s pace, an economy that can’t effectively nurture innovation at the ground level, and a consumer-based society that has effectively made us our own worst enemies. Yet, in spite of ourselves, some call it all progress, and why we are able to celebrate the 4th of July today and at all.

Have we made any progress in the environmental front? Not really. The tail end of several decades of climate action lobbying has only driven a divisive wedge into the spirited environmental debate. Those benefitting from industrial energy development now tout that they are environmental saviors – that we can build our way out of planetary crises with sprawling solar and wind farms and must do so to cater to ever increasing societal demands. By contrast, the rest of us (myself included), have the foresight to see this is only part of a pattern – where profit motives are driving the agenda, and when there’s profit there’s money to move to buy influence.

By contrast, I revert to the very genesis of our problem – ever increasing consumption aligned with ever increasing population. We’re just placing too high a demand on the planet and its precious resources. So, what about the solutions involving protections and conservation?

Here in Rhode Island, the battle is over offshore wind, and there have yet to be any answers to the myriad of questions asked that align with how exactly the widespread destruction of hundreds of thousands of acres of natural habitat along the continental shelf contribute to protections and conservation – because it doesn’t. Where this rubs many of us the wrong way, is that this sprawling energy development out in the middle of otherwise untouched open ocean space is touted as a flagship “blue economy” initiative. Evidently the powers that be liked the term, indeed it’s catchy, though did not do their homework to understand its genesis or intent.

The term was originated by the Belgian economist Gunter Pauli in his 2012 book titled The Blue Economy. His term defines an economy that makes responsible and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources, recognizing that we are an inherently exploitative species and use and abuse the natural environment.

Importantly the word ‘sustainable’ does not reference financial sustainable business exploitation – it is used in reference to ensure that our exploitative practices leave an ocean that itself remains home to sustainable ecosystems and their inhabitants. My expectation then, is that this Blue Economy is also a circular economy, relinquishing profit motives and redirecting a fair share of profits to the preservations, protection, and restoration required to ensure the ocean itself indeed remains sustainable. The ocean and its inhabitants must benefit as though it is an equitable partner at the table. As of this writing, that is not the case.

While the masses sit back and enjoy their 4th of July burgers and beer, with the power just seeming to magically be there to run the A/C, and have an unlimited supply of clean water coming out of the tap to run sprinklers for the kids – taking much of it all for granted – remember that these privileges come with great cost and it’s to our own detriment. There are indeed better ways, though all require applying precautionary principles to preservation and protection as the priority – not profitable greenisms.

So what are we celebrating when we can’t get out of our own way?

I guess it’s only a matter of time until the markets run out of food, fossil fuels burn out, and the tap runs dry – and when they do it will be revolt and revolution, but against who? Ourselves? Perhaps only then our dependence on the grid will take a turn towards pressing us towards true independence. My thought is that being a little proactive will help preserve our sanity when it’s time.

In my future ideal independent state, we can still take giant strides away from the shore and realize the aquatic assimilation that Cousteau forecast over a half century ago – but it’s not with a sprawling industrial footprint – it’s with an explorers’ mindset, seeking to protect what we don’t even know exists because it has been proven time and time again that ‘being there’ to learn and appreciate measurably contributes to the sustainable planet that supports us (not the other way around). 

As the campfires burn and fireworks dump fiery waste into the coastal watersheds – imagine an Aquatic America that benefits the ocean just as much as it benefits us. We have so much work to do.

I write for me – it’s therapy, but if you find it particularly uplifting, feel free to buy me a coffee to help keep the content coming: Buy me a coffee!