June 16, 2005

6/16 - Junk is Junk: Are we shifting the baselines for California oil rigs?

Will there come a day when the ocean is filled with discarded junk, and yet there are so many fish swimming among it all and we have so totally shifted our baselines that we look at it with pride?

In the standard "two steps forward, one step backwards" fashion of politics, the Pacific Fishery Council announced new bans on bottom trawling along the coast of California and Oregon. But at the same time they designated 13 Southern California oil rigs as Habitats of Particular Concern (HAPC), the highest level of importance. Is it really a good idea to call junk piles "prime habitat." Maybe. But everyone needs to keep in mind this age old problem of shifting baselines. And doesn't this start to set a precedent for the owners of sunken ships to argue against their removal by saying they are on their way to becoming a HAPC, just like the oil rigs?

Warner Chabot of the Ocean Conservancy rightly notes, "The Fishery Council’s decision was like putting lipstick on a pig. Faced with a billion dollar cost to remove their aging oil rigs, the oil industry has invested millions in a 10-year campaign to portray the legs of their old oil rigs as an ocean gardens of Eden.
rignight.jpg
Is this a sight of beauty or what?


Posted by Randy Olson at June 16, 2005 12:08 PM