Recreational Boating meets Global Warming

Last summer, I learned that all incoming freshman at the University of Washington were going to have to read the same book and that the issues raised in the book would be integrated into a number of their classes.

For whatever reason, I was intrigued with the idea of finding out the name of the book and reading it. Maybe it was an opportunity to go back in time and relive my own days at the UW.

As it turns out, the book was called “Mountains Beyond Mountains” and it was a great read. It is a true story, essentially a biography of Dr. Paul Farmer who has accomplished incredible feats in the world of public health. I recommend it.

So, this summer as Debbie and I were preparing to go on vacation, I found out what book this year’s freshman class would be reading and put a copy on our boat. This year’s book is titled: “Field Notes from a Catastrophe” by a former New York Times reporter, Elizabeth Kolbert.

The book is based on a series of articles that appeared in The New Yorker magazine and organized around notes Ms. Kolbert took on “field trips,” not only to places where climate change is affecting the natural world but also to ones — labs, offices, observatories — where humans are trying to understand the phenomenon of human-induced global warming.

In fact, I was so impressed that I purchased copies for everyone on our Board of Trustees. Needless to say, I recommend it for all of you.

I realize that the topic of “global warming” can be polarizing in any room with some seeing the end of the world scenario as just decades away and others completely “pooh-poohing” the notion that our world might be warming.

After reading the book, I came away fairly sure that the scientific evidence is compelling enough that at the very minimum, our eyes should be wide open and… and realistically we should have started to do something about it quite a while ago.

While I was reading the book, I had two perspectives: I read the book as a plain old walking around civilian, father of four and grandfather of two wondering what impact all this could have on my family. At the same time, I kept thinking about what global warming could mean for the recreational boating industry.

What do you think? Could global warming and rising sea levels impact how all of us make our livings?

Living here in the Pacific Northwest where we have less sun and more cold days than most of us would like, I used to joke that global warming would be good for boating under the assumption that it would give us more days to go boating on sunny days. Even when I said it, I knew that I was being a little “flip” and the issue has a dark side and could have a huge negative impact on our industry.

Now that I am back in the office, where we are all starting to focus our energies on the upcoming 2008 Seattle Boat Show, I have begun to research ideas on how our boat show could put a spotlight on those companies and segments of the industry who are leading the way with “Going Green.” Maybe we should create an awards program. Maybe we should create a Green Zone and invite exhibitors to display products that will help us reduce carbon emissions. Maybe we ought to offer seminars on bio-diesel and or ethanol as alternative fuels. Maybe we should invite some of the best minds in our industry and have a Conference/Symposium in conjunction with the brightest minds at the University of Washington. Maybe our friends at the UW College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences want to partner with us. Maybe we could work with our landlords at Qwest Field Event Center and Lake Union and explore how much we could lower the carbon footprint of the show itself.

I welcome any ideas you all have about how our industry should address the global warming issue and specifically, how the Seattle Boat Show should be a part of that strategy.

With warm regards,

Michael Campbell
President
michael@nmta.net