The rough, white texture of the bark was still bright in the fading glow of sunset. I turned my head and gazed out over the valley to enjoy the last few moments of it bathed in golden light. Some of the greatest feats of humankind had been achieved since this wood had been stacked together…electricity, the automobile, telephones, antibiotics, the internet and landing on the moon to name a few. I closed my eyes and imagined this place as it must have been back when a Crow Indian warrior used it as a scouting point. At least that is what this teepee-like structure of large wooden branches and logs is thought to have been, a scouting post for Crow warriors watching over the valley for any enemy war parties. What anthropologists do know is it pre-dates 1872, a very special year. That year, President Ulysses S Grant, in a document roughly 26 lines long, founded the country’s first National Park…Yellowstone, or as it was originally called The National Park of the Headwaters of the Yellowstone River.

The structure I was standing on was one of several dozen scattered throughout the park that are off the beaten path and rarely seen by tourists. I had come here for….

Finish reading my blog on Huffington Post by clicking here!

Another long week. The oil spill in the Gulf has kept me and my team busier than ever. As I prepared for my 5th trip to Grand Isle, I wrote a blog for CNN that chronicles my experiences in the gulf and demonstrates why we must start being not only aware but active about making changes to protect the environment around us for both nature and our own sakes.

Click here to read my CNN blog on the Gulf Oil Spill

We made it into Tampa late last night and took the one hour drive to the beach near St. Petersburg. It was going to be another long day and we were prepared to get up early and get to the beach for the cleanup. I had come here in partnership with the Ocean Conservancy, one of the leading ocean conservation organizations in the country. The whole idea was to organize a beach cleanup as a way to channel the collective sense of frustration and demonstrate that people can take action to help the oceans…with or without oil.

Ocean Conservancy runs the International Coastal Cleanup in September, the largest ocean cleanup in the world, and has started expanding it to events throughout the year. They invited me to come to the event in Tampa to help show people that we all have power. Even before oil reaches Tampa, and I hope it doesn’t, it is important to clean up as much of the coast as possible. Once oil arrives any debris along the shore becomes a bio-hazard and is very difficult to clean up because is requires special training. The day was sweltering but the effort was worthwhile as we cleaned up over a ton of trash.

I have talked about it at length: We only have to look in the mirror to find someone to blame for this oil catastrophe because it is a symptom of a wider problem. However, in the same way we make the choices that cause us to be addicted to oil—a substance that poisons our air, our water and our future—we also have the equal power to change the world in which we live. To eat less meat, use public transportation, aspire to healthy and functional houses, vote in politicians that care about our world, and more…

As Gandhi one wrote, “we must become the change we seek in the world.” There is always hope, we have the power to build the sustainable and just world our children deserve and if the spill reminds us of anything…it is that…

June 4, 2010

The day started early as we left New Orleans in the hot muggy morning light. The drive to Grand Isle takes about two hours, plenty of time to contemplate what I was about to see. It had been a week since I last in Grand Isle and I had heard things were getting worse, but nothing could prepare me for what I was about to see. Once we made it to the southern part of Louisiana, about an hour into the trip, we started to see signs advertising small shops closed due to dwindling fish supplies and others pleading with the government and BP to help them feed their children. By the time we got to Grand Isle and met the team there was a sense of frustration and anger that was palpable amongst the people milling about the marina.

We boarded the boat and headed out into Barataria Bay, the home of the most fertile oyster and shrimp and fishing grounds in the Gulf of Mexico, our destination was several small islands where birds congregate. As we pulled up to the shore we saw oily booms washed up on the beach and thick red oil covering the sand along the shoreline. A few hundred yards down was a small heron covered in reddish colored oil, thicker than molasses. As soon as I looked at the bird I knew she was waiting to die, shivering and too weak to stand. I knew this was just the beginning. Further along we saw more birds whose normally bright white feathers were stained orange and knew it wouldn’t be long for them either.

Soon a dark cloud rolled in above and we hurried back to the boat only to get caught moments later in a squall that threatened to flip the small boat that had ferried us to the island. A grueling ride back to port left us drenched in the oily water splashing over the bow of the boat. As I jumped off the boat the taste of oil was still in my mouth and we wasted no time drying off. We didn’t have much time before we had to drive back to New Orleans to fly to Florida and so we interviewed several of the fishermen at the marina and headed to the main beach on the Gulf side of the island.

As soon as we arrived I was greeted by a horrible sight, a beach covered in thick blotches of oil as far as the eye could see and barely anyone on shore attempting to clean it up. Now I know why everyone was so frustrated, the oil had reached the beach, which was bad enough, but there seemed to be little effort to clean it. Soon, two uniformed individuals asked us to leave the beach ‘for our own safety’ and ushered us away but I knew I would be back within a week. From what I saw that day, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

Another early morning, all the more early because we didn’t stop work till 2AM last night! Today we head off to Grand Isle about three hours away from Venice to visit with Louisiana Wildlife and Fish department. Oil has made its way into the mangroves which means some of our worst fears have been realized. These wetland habitats are some of the most fragile in the world and also some of the most important. 40% of all the wetlands in the lower 48 states exist along the coast of Louisiana and they are directly in the oil’s path. Look at the photos and you will see why once the oil gets into these tight intricate bodies of water, there is no getting it out.

By the time we arrived it was midday and the sun was hanging hot in the sky. Horse flies surrounded us as we made our way to the Wildlife and Fisheries boat and headed out into the bay. The despair was visible in the eyes of the scientists and researchers who accompanied us. There was frustration too and it wasn’t long before they told me why. “BP has been sitting around for almost a month without preparing this area for the oil. The local authorities had to commandeer their equipment just a few days ago when it was clear they were doing nothing,” I was told. “Now the oil has made it into the marshes and mangroves and we have no idea what the long-term impacts will be but we are concerned that this will be worse than Katrina.”

They went on to explain that as the oil penetrates the vegetation it kills it and leaves bare soil to be washed away, which will decimate this once vital and productive eco-system. “We are seeing birds covered in oil during the height of nesting season and tar is washing up on the beaches,” they explained. There was real concern in their voices, people who have grown up here and who are now watching the entire ecosystem and economic bases of the community fall apart before their eyes.
As I dipped my fingers into a puddle of oil, one of many strewn across the sand, I was angry, too. This is the price of our arrogance, I thought; this black poison is choking the life out of one of the most incredible places on earth. As I drove back to New Orleans last night, the images I saw helped to reinforce the urgency of this issue…we have a clear choice: continue to pollute our planet or fight for a cleaner world. This is not an economic vs. environment issue as Ted Danson reinforced yesterday on Larry King Live. A true champion for the environment, he reminded us that clean energy creates more jobs than oil and gas and that this illusion that our economy can’t afford to go green is just that—an illusion. The truth is…we can’t afford not to.

For photos and video from Philippe’s trip to the Gulf, visit www.treehugger.com.

Watch Philippe’s dive in the BP oil spill with Good Morning America: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/diving-gulfs-toxic-soup-10735329?tab=9482931&section=4765066

The morning started early…5:30AM and didn’t stop all day. While I am not much of a fan of early mornings I don’t mind it so much when the reason is an adventure like the one we are headed towards today. It all started three weeks ago when we called the producers at ABC’s Good Morning America and said…I don’t think anyone has ever filmed a dive in an oil spill…we should do it. Three weeks of logistical planning, risk assessment and even postponement due to weather and we got a window to head out to dive in the oil. Our goal was to find the thickest oil/chemical dispersant mixture we could and get in the water.

We had full hazmat outfits which included full dry suits, Kirby Morgan hard helmets and air hoses and in water communications. All of the gear was designed to protect us from chemical exposure and it ended up being one of the most grueling days I have ever had diving. We did two dives, one in clear water to test the gear and the next on in the thickest nastiest oil we could find. The helmet weighed 30 pounds by itself and it was 90 degrees out. Wearing a dry suit it was sweltering and all of us were exhausted and dehydrated within minutes. By the time we got in the water we quickly forgot about the discomfort as the gravity of the situation hit us. All around us was a thick soup of orange particles floating in the water column to a depth of about 15 feet. On the surface a sheen of oil covered the water. The dive lasted about 30 minutes and after wave after wave of oil/chemical dispersant mix washed over us it was time to head back to the surface. This was one of the most terrible experiences of my life seeing first had what this oil spill looks like under the water and knowing that this contamination is spreading over hundreds of miles. Even if they do manage to cut off the oil tomorrow the oil that has escaped will spread, following currents as far as the Arctic Circle via the Gulf Stream, wreaking havoc along the way.

We made it back to the harbor around midnight, exhausted and ready for a few hours of sleep before we start a round of press tomorrow. I know that my father and grandfather would have been doing this if they were alive and that they would have been just as horrified by what they saw as I was. I can only hope that we learn from this and start to truly take the kind of drastic action necessary to begin the decades long road to recovery, for history will not only judge us by our mistakes, but by what we do to fix them and so far…I fear history will judge us harshly.

For videos and pictures from Philippe’s visit to the Gulf, visit: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/behind-the-scenes-with-first-divers-gulf-oil-spill.php?campaign=TH_rotator

The Big Easy…always nice to be back, I arrived this morning in New Orleans from Charleston, South Carolina, where I had been the night before at a gala event for the South Carolina Aquarium. They honored my sister Alexandra and me with the Legacy Award last year and then invited me back this year to present the award to Al Gore. It was an honor and a perfect pre-cursor to my trip to fight the oil spill in the Gulf. This is my second trip, to read about my first trip two weeks ago click here… Now I am down here again to cover the spill from a new angle…can’t talk about that…it’s top secret but stay tuned as you will learn more in the next day or so. This is the greatest environmental disaster of our lifetimes and it has only just begun.

For photos and video from Philippe’s trip, go to the following link:http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/dispatch-gulf-oil-spill-philippe-cousteau.php

It was early, and the sun was just starting to peak over the pale horizon as we gathered the team at the rendezvous site. Dew hung on the Spanish moss, and I could tell the black flies were already marshaling their forces, preparing for their relentless daily onslaught.

As the crew quietly went about preparing the gear for the day’s shoot, I closed my eyes. My mind drifted, imagining what this place must have looked like 40 years ago when my father and grandfather stood gazing out over the same water, pondering the plight of what they called “The Forgotten Mermaid.”

It was 1970, and “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau” had premiered on ABC only two years before. My father, mother and grandfather had traveled to the famed Crystal River in Florida to film manatees, a gentle giant that had been silently suffering at the hands of man since the days of Columbus and that was in dire need of protection. “The Forgotten Mermaid” was one of the first episodes of the television series that would go on to capture the world’s imagination for decades to come and would transform the world by helping to usher in a whole new era of global environmental awareness.

Now it was my turn to explore the plight of a creature that is still very much in crisis, even 40 years on.

Wispy fog was gently wafting off the surface as we boarded a small boat and headed out, slowly gliding over the water in search of what early settlers called the “sea-cow.” Beside me stood Buddy Powell, a world-renowned manatee researcher, who as a 17-year-old boy had accompanied my grandfather and father acting as a local guide to their original expedition.

Next to Buddy was Sam Champion, who like so many, had watched my grandfather’s films as a boy and dreamed of sharing in his adventures. Now we were all headed out on the river to film manatees again; a creature whose plight, like that of the environment as a whole has changed little since the last time a Cousteau probed these waters.

Manatees (not unlike the environment as a whole) are still plagued by people who believe that the rivers and land “belong” to us and thus that they should be able build wherever they wish, go wherever they wish and take whatever they wish. Of course, if nature “belongs” to anyone it is the future and we are merely caretakers … and poor ones at that.

Back on the River
Like my father and grandfather before me, my work is dedicated to telling the story of the environment and the responsibility we all have to care for it so that our children might enjoy the same gifts of life that we have known. Much of my work is focused on education through my non-profit EarthEcho International, and by the end of this year I will have traveled across the country speaking to over 100,000 young people.

Just this last Monday I was in Austin, Texas, visiting an elementary school and like so many time before, I was blown away by how engaged and concerned children were about the environment. This new generation, more than any that has preceded it, is focused on the need for solutions where the interests of the natural world are not eclipsed but instead find balance with the needs of humans.

Inspired by this kind of enthusiasm, my other company Azure Worldwide has partnered with the University of Virginia to pioneer new technology by developing a totally new kind of interactive video game, the “U.Va. Bay Game” — which simulates any natural habitat where the players take on the roles of people who live and work in that particular environment.

For the first time we have the technology to create experiences where people can actually see the impact of collaboration as the game is played — it’s a groundbreaking approach to conservation that is part of the comprehensive strategy we must take to tackle these problems in the new environmental movement of the 21st century.

Being back on that river, so close to the spirit of my grandfather and father, who died just six months before I was born, was an experience that I will cherish forever. It has renewed my commitment to fighting for a world where we all understand that, as my grandfather once wrote, “We can find happiness in protecting the world around us not only because we cherish it for its awesome beauty, power, and mystery, but because we cherish our fellow humans, those who live today and those who will live tomorrow, living beings who like ourselves, will increasingly depend on the environment for happiness and even for life itself.”

Click here to watch the episode.

EarthEcho International is looking for amazing young people (ages 13-25) helping our environment and saving our planet one action at a time. Tell EarthEcho International your story in a short 30-60 second video that shows youth(you) applying their ideas and energy to learn about, preserve, and conserve our environment. These inspiring videos will be collected for an online documentary project that will motivate others and “echo your message.” If you are an EchoRockstar or know an EchoRockstar, please contact Kenzie McDonald at Kenzie@earthecho.org. See Kenzie talk about her high school project at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utdcQctDD_E.
Ideas for your video:
– Set up like a TV News Flash
– Photo Montage with Voice Over
– Straight Talk (see Kenzie’s example)
– Music and Action
Your Ideas — Your Story!