Humankind's treatment of its environment has come to the forefront of the public consciousness. Issues like climate change and environmental exploitation have become a global emergency.
On Friday, one Congressman literally sounded the alarm.
Congressman Joe Cunningham (D-SC) blasted an air horn at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA] assistant fisheries head Chris Oliver. While this was certainly an unconventional approach, Cunningham was making an important point. NOAA authorized five companies to run seismic air horn tests underwater, potentially interrupting feeding patterns for legions of marine life, including whales.
Cunningham used the air horn to demonstrate how maddening and harmful these tests can be.
Watch below:
Cunningham asked Oliver if the noise was disruptive, to which Oliver said it was "Irritating" but not necessarily disruptive. Cunningham continued:
“What about every, say, 10 seconds like seismic air gun blasting goes on for for days, weeks, months?...What if you depended on sound for hunting your food and for communication? Do you think it would be disruptive?”
When asked how much louder he believed the seismic air guns were compared to the air horn Cunningham brought to the hearing, Oliver said he didn't know, but didn't think it was over 1,000 times as powerful. That's when Cunningham told Oliver that the seismic guns were over 16,000 times as powerful than the traditional air horn.
Twitter applauded Cunningham's tactic.
The Trump administration's environmental policies have been a concern for Americans everywhere.
It's unlikely that Oliver will change his stance, but at least Congressman Cunningham left a message ringing in his ears.
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