La Solidaridad

In 1989, the world witnessed one of the worst environmental disasters in history: the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. More than 30 million gallons of crude oil were spilled, affecting the community and livelihood of the people of Prince William Sound.

What is the legacy of Exxon Valdez. What can the youth learn from it?

The legacy of the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) is that oil is more toxic than previously thought to people and wildlife. Wildlife biologists and medical researchers now understand that a particular fraction of oil, called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs, is the deadly fraction of oil. This was NOT understood 30 years ago in the 1970s when the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act imposed regulations on oil pollution.

The old laws are based on the toxicity of a completely different fraction of oil -- and largely ignore PAHs. Laws to protect public health and the environment need to be updated to take into account the new scientific understanding. Since over 90 percent of the PAHs in North America's air and water (according to the National Research Council, 2003) comes from burning fossil fuels in vehicles and power plants, changing the old laws entangles science with politics -- similar to the global climate change science.

Youth will learn:

1) Some oil effects on people (in story-telling format).

2) Some oil effects on wildlife (in story-telling format).

3) How science advances through paradigm shifts.

4) How public policy can be (and often is) thwarted through vested interests (businesses making profits under old paradigm).

5) How individuals can help shift society off fossil fuels to a different energy future.

6) One person CAN make a difference.

What do you think of environmental education for the youth?

It's critical for planetary survival and obtaining/ensuring a high quality of living for ALL of Earth's inhabitants (which will also be increasingly important for planetary survival). Healthy environments drive healthy economies.

What are the biggest challenges you had to face in your profession? A firm has bugged your telephone, spied on you, followed your every move, what made you go on with your work?

The biggest challenge is a very fundamental problem and, interestingly, it's very similar to the problem that caused the revolution that created the United States. Large corporations have amassed too much money and political power to be held accountable to governments and the People. This imbalance was largely created through judge-made law (as opposed to people-made law through governments) that gave fictitious corporations "personhood" and the same rights as living, breathing humans. Corporations have (more than) enough money and legal "rights" to influence and actually drive public policy. Public policy SHOULD reflect values of PEOPLE, which include non-economic things like basic quality of life. Corporate values are only about making money. This clash of values, with the upper hand to corporations, drives unsound public policy -- like pollution control laws that do not adequately protect public health and the environment.

I go on because I believe that people can and must solve problems that threaten our very survival. Public policy is like a three-legged stool with the legs being government, industry, and people. Without people advocating basic needs and rights, the stool will collapse. I enjoy trying to problem solve large-scale social change amidst the varying challenges that are presented daily. It's never boring.

How toxic is oil? What are PAHs exactly and its side effects? (How much quantity of PAHs would it take exactly to affect a person´s health?)

Oil is a 1,000 times more toxic than we thought in the 1970s. Back then, the focus of oil toxicity was benzene and its derivatives. Benzene is one aromatic "ring" that dissolves quickly in water and evaporates quickly in air. It's the primary component in gas vapors released when you fuel your car, for example. Benzene is also one of the oldest known carcinogens on the planet. PAHs are multiple benzene rings: 3-5 rings create a lot of health problems. In 1999, the U.S. EPA listed 22 PAHs found in crude oil on its list of "persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic pollutants." This list includes lead, dioxin, mercury, PCBs, and DDT, NONE of which do we put in the gas tanks of our automobiles (in the U.S. anyway). PAHs share characteristics of these other chemicals: they are mobile and can work their way through air, water, soil, and food; they can build up in life forms; and they are toxic in the sense of impaired reproduction, genetic damage, central nervous system problems, respiratory problems, and cancer.

Levels of PAHs as low as 1-20 parts per billion KILL sensitive life stages such as pink salmon and herring eggs and embryos -- and impair function of survivors enough to cause population level declines. This is like a quart and a half of crude oil in an olympic size swimming pool. Not much. Medical doctors found that the levels of PAHs in urban air in crowded cities (especially during rush hour) are high enough to cause respiratory problems such as asthma. These levels are WAY below the federal standards that supposedly protect public health. Asthma is the number one illness in children under 18. But -- good news -- policy makers are getting it and changes are happening: like replacing the diesel engines in those yellow school buses and limiting PAHs in off-road vehicles like farm tractors, trains, etc.

18 years have passed since the Exxon Valdez incident, why do you think there are still oil spill accidents occurring until today?

Because people have been led to believe that oil drives progress. It doesn't. People drive progress and can actively participate in shaping progress based on human rights and deeply held values. Our energy choice to drive progress is just that: a choice. We choose a toxic source because flawed accounting (such as public health costs, environmental degradation costs, etc.), and huge subsidies blind us to other possibilities. We have been led to believe that we can't live without oil. We can't live WITH oil. As long as oil is used, there will be spills -- and more importantly, CHRONIC pollution from daily use that sickens people and contributes to wildlife losses.

What other environmental reforms would you make or promote?

Media independence from corporate influence to educate people on problems free of corporate bias and propaganda.

Election process that levels playing field so candidates don't have to be rich to run.

Voting process that ensures votes can be validated (paper trail for electronic machines).

Constitutional amendments (federal and state) to define "person" as individuals, NOT corporations.

Constitutional amendments that put people's rights BEFORE property rights.

Adoption of Kyoto Protocol by U.S.

Removing subsidies for fossil fuels and increasing subsidies to promote alternatives (not nuclear).

Oil spill disasters are usually isolated events that fail to garner worldwide response. How come there is no global anti-oil spill coalition around?

I think you just answered your own question! Large trans-national oil corporations have been forced in some areas, usually by citizens AFTER a spill, to clean up their act and adopt precautions to reduce risk of oil spills. For example, at the Sullom Voe Terminal in Shetland, Scotland, and in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Citizens usually do not have the same international scope or vision of the oil companies, resulting in a global set of double standards. The Oil Pollution Act SHOULD drive double hulls world wide which will help. But there are plenty of other things that could be done like tractor tug escorts in crowded or geologically restricted areas.

Are you in favor or the IOPC (international oil pollution compensation fund)? Please tell us what you think about the non-economic compensation for environmental disasters.

It's a must. By making it more expensive to spill oil, the liability shifts from people, communities, and the environment back to the shippers. By holding the oil companies accountable for short AND LONG-TERM environmental harm from oil spills, they will voluntarily take increased precautions to avoid spilling it. It boils down to pure economics for corporations. The economic risk of spilling must outweigh the economic costs of spill prevention measures -- or preventable spills will keep happening.

Aside from your book and speaking engagements, what are the organizations you are engaged in? Have you been using the Internet to promote your work, if yes, how much did it help you?

www.alaskaforum.org Co-founded Alaska Forum for Environmental Responsibility which provides citizen oversight of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline.

www.orafoundation.org Co-founded Oiled Regions of Alaska Foundation to rebuild communities injured by the EVOS and assist plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez Case with financial planning and distribution of taxable portion of their awards back into their communities through charitable giving strategies.

www.copperriver.org Founding director (retired) of Copper River Watershed Project to advocate economic development and diversification in ways that would protect environment and sustain culture; i.e., promote sustainable community/ future for economy trashed by oil spill.

Yes, the Internet was a big help in marketing and I'm still learning how to effectively use it. www.soundtruth.info.

Article and Interview by Tuesday Gutierrez