An Evening with Philippe Cousteau in LA « Features

An Evening with Philippe Cousteau in LA

2011-04-21 by Lindsay Taub

Philippe Cousteau and Jorja Fox

A year ago, we witnessed the first days of what became the biggest accidental oil spill in history. With more than 200 million gallons of oil released into the Gulf thousands of feet below the surface, it was also one of the most difficult disasters to monitor. Long term environmental impact is still unknown, but at the helm of the current discussion on the horrendous damage done is environmentalist and CNN International special correspondent Philippe Cousteau, co-founder and CEO of Earth Echo International and Azure Worldwide.

Last week at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, Cousteau gave a private briefing to a powerhouse group of passionate locals, including several UCLA students, environmentalists, entertainment and business community leaders. Following a cocktail reception Dr. Glen MacDonald, a professor in UCLA’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, moderated the hour-long question-and-answer session in which Cousteau addressed three main topics: his recent trip to the Arctic, the disaster in Japan and environmental impact of radiation dumping in the ocean, and the anniversary of the Gulf oil spill. The theme that bound all three was quite simply that without water, we have a planet in peril.

Philippe and Dr. Glen MacDonald (UCLA)

The first portion of the conversation focused on Cousteau’s two-week trip to the Arctic. The journey took him from Ottawa to Resolute (one of the northernmost outposts in the world with a permanent human habitation, albeit less than 250 people) before reaching an ice base in the Arctic where Cousteau survived in temperatures of 53 degrees below. With nine tents serving as the home base, four of which were un-heated and for sleeping only, an igloo may have seemed luxurious.

Keep reading on Pacific-Punch.com here.