Would sexier oceans get a bigger budget?
In 2006, the U.S. alone spent an estimated $13.3 billion on the sex and porn industry. Worldwide, it was estimated sex industry sales were $97 billion.
Meanwhile, as of 1999, the entire world was spending only about $6 billion on nature reserves globally. The Sea Around Us Project will soon release a study showing the global cost of marine protected areas (MPAs) to be an estimated $1 billion.
What's a marine protected area got to do? Do we need to make the oceans sexier to get money for them? Maybe some softcoral porn will do the trick.
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I hate to call into question the national or global fiscal priorities, but the global ecosystem provides us with an estimated $33 trillion worth of value annually and we're throwing $6 billion at it in return (and $1 billion to MPAs)?
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it looks like a sexy, sexy burn victim
There is an unclosed 'b' or 'strong' tag in this entry. It is making everything below it bold face.
Unclosed bold is the new sexy.
Bold is sexy. Timid is not.
I'll never think of coral....the same way again...
I am in complete agreement. How oh how do we make MPAs more seductive?? Even jellyfish are sexier than MPAs. Perhaps we need a Pamela equivalent for the marine conservation movement. Jennifer- it's a toss up between you and my screen saver..
I propose an ocean tax on sex and porn. We could turn our vices into virtues. That could even be a campaign slogan. Now we just need a candidate willing to come out in support of environmentally conscious masturbation.
I am surprised that no commenter mentioned the hard coral yet...
Wow...yeah, just wow.
I made an off the wall comment earlier, but I do recognize how misplaced our priorities are. Your financial comparisons are a sad commentary on the state of the world. Unfortunately, I don't see that changing anytime in the immediate future.
And note: just because we are having fun in the comments does not mean we did not understand the real message of your post.
I think the comparison between expenditures on sex vs. marine protection is quite a stretch, myself. But Pamela Lee Coral is a nice reminder of our whack priorities...
Wow...yeah, just wow.