The news site of Santa Barbara City College.

The Channels

The news site of Santa Barbara City College.

The Channels

The news site of Santa Barbara City College.

The Channels

Channel Keepers picking up slack on testing.

Channel+Keepers+picking+up+slack+on+testing.

In Lak’ech (En-La-Kesh) is Mayan for I am you and you are a reflection of me.

Being born human is a gift. Our abilities stretch beyond our imaginations and our imaginations beyond the faintest horizon.

We are our environments. The effort we put forth in protecting it is reflected in our everyday lives as humans. Santa Barbara is evidence of that. The birthplace of the Environmental Protection Agency is a green town getting greener by the day. It’s safe to say that Santa Barbara ocean waters won’t go untested as long as the masses continue treating environmental progress like a never ending religious practice. This is truly an imperative hypothetical.

As Americans, we’re especially blessed because at birth we’re guaranteed the opportunity to express and exercise our most eccentric beliefs. This is empowering.

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As a person with environmental concerns as my primary belief, I naturally love good food, especially seafood. This past weekend I enjoyed three ounces of a pan seared Pacific snapper. It was delicious.

Some of you may cringe at the thought of fish for environmental reasons and others for genuine dislike.

To the environmentalist, your fears are reasonable. That isn’t to say that mercury levels in Santa Barbara oceans are unusually high; in fact, in a 2007 federally released fish consumption warning, Santa Barbara County was exempt.

Some recent trends are of high concern though, especially when taking Santa Barbara’s active offshore drilling platforms into account. In addition to past budget cuts, the new EPA budget includes a $10 million dip in ocean water testing. This is alarming.

In recent years, local environmental non-profit The Channel Keepers picked up the government’s slack by performing what’s supposed to be a Public Health Department duty. Instead, from November-March The Channel Keepers spent $1,000 dollars in donation and grant money per week testing ocean toxin levels. That figure is sure to increase in the next year.

The Channel Keepers do have a large number of private contributors and may end up taking on the extra weight in stride. But to think that the federal government would leave a task of dire importance up the private sector is earth shattering. Securing the health and safety of the public is top priority.

I say this knowing that the quibbling is useless. The only solution is to exercise daily the belief that holds us all together.

Of course, taking a stand isn’t always easy. Big issues like the federal budget are tough to tackle without missing out on the fun in life. Yet there are only so many petitions against military spending you can sign before you start going all Occupy Wall Street on people.

But there are alternatives and they begin with increasing awareness. Increasing your environmental awareness allows you to accurately develop your intentions. Whether it’s donating, changing daily habits, or joining the Beach Angels Facebook page ultimately doesn’t matter. The point is that you try. Someone’s delicious seafood dinner is depending on it. In Lak’ech.

Santa Barbara Fish Market

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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