
Clear Blue Oceans
The Science of a healthy life
Finally is the one word that comes to my mind when I gladly noticed that we are finally going to come together to talk about the state of our global oceans and how to actually go about saving them. Finally is also what comes to mind when I read that the mighty Rockefeller fund (whom built it´s fortune upon oil) will withdraw all investments from fossil fuel, going as far as calling out ExxonMobil as 'morally reprehensible'.

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Green & Clean Energy towers mighty above fossil fuel
Finally also comes into play when you look back at 2015. A year which finally (there it is again :P) saw us (as in the world) cut fossil fuel investments in half compared to what we globally invested in renewable energy. Of course, fossil fuel does not just need less investment, it needs zero investment and it needs to be dismantled completely. But 2015 was by all accounts a great year and a big step in the right direction for us all.
Catherine Mitchell, professor of energy policy at the University of Exeter, called it “extremely significant”. “We are looking at serious sums of money being invested in clean energy, with the dirtiest forms of fossil fuels the losers. This is the direction of travel that we need to see to have a chance of escaping the worst impacts of climate change.”
Source:
The Guardian.com
As it happens, big polluting power player China increased it´s year on year investments in clean energy production with 17% compared to 2014, now totalling 103 bn US$ (more than twice as much as US investments in clean energy production for the same period).
ExxonMobil
[ morally reprehensible ]
Rockefeller vs Fossil fuel.
It is worth pointing out however that not only have the Rockefeller family already made billions of US$ on oil, but out of the many Rockefeller funds, the biggest, the Rockefeller Foundation is for now still holding on to it´s fossil fuel investments.
But still, it is a positive and concrete note to see that there is a change in thought and actual investments happening inside the Rockefeller "brand" and not just posh words uttered for easy PR points.
“There is no sane rationale for companies to continue to explore for new sources of hydrocarbons,” the RFF, said in a statement. “We must keep most of the already discovered reserves in the ground if there is any hope for human and natural ecosystems to survive and thrive in the decades ahead.
“We would be remiss if we failed to focus on what we believe to be the morally reprehensible conduct on the part of ExxonMobil.
Evidence appears to suggest that the company worked since the 1980s to confuse the public about climate change's march, while simultaneously spending millions to fortify its own infrastructure against climate change's destructive consequences and track new exploration opportunities as the Arctic's ice receded.”
Source:
The Guardian.com
And finally, those mighty blue Oceans, so tempting and inviting, yet so polluted with plastic, metals, toxins, over fished, and what not.
A sad situation caused by the free for all, governed by none approach nations and corporations and individuals have up until now had towards the pale blue waters that provides the entire planet and all of humanity with not only a safety net towards climate change, but also vast amounts of healthy, sustainable food and preciously important natural resources. wildlife, energy, tourism, trade (and water).
Hopefully UN will be able to change that now however.
And tongue in cheek, let us hope that it will not take the UN it´s usual 5 decades of talking to actually do something of worth.
"On the high seas, anything goes," said a European diplomat taking part in the talks.
"The aim of this future agreement is precisely to set up a system of governance to constrain the impact of human activity,"
But no matter the outcome and pace of the UN talks, life is rapidly moving forward, not backwards, and the descent of fossil fuel and the growing global insight into how we all must become much better caretakers of this planet, Earth, soil, water, air, food, people and wildlife, life and energy.
All that is a wonderful and positive thing, making 2015 a pretty great year despite some obvious bumps in the road for humanity.
Source:
AFP

Photography by Nasa, The Blue Sky of Pluto - “Who would have expected a blue sky in the Kuiper Belt? It’s gorgeous,” said Alan Stern, New Horizons principal investigator from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), Boulder, Colorado.
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