**Biodiversity **

Module Overfishing


US Cuba cooperation is key to sustain biodiversity the alternative results in
ecosystem degradation and overfishing
PR Newswire 13
(United States Scientists Visit Cuba to Discuss Overfishing, Coral Reefs, Ocean Energy
and Ocean Issues,http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/united-states-
scientists-visit-cuba-to-discuss-overfishing-coral-reefs-ocean-energy-and-ocean-issues-
65763572.html, 6/24/13, AZ)

RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Environmental Defense Fund will send a team of
experts to Havana, Cuba, on Sunday to discuss ways to eliminate overfishing, protect coral reefs,
conserve coastal areas, and tap potential ocean energy - a signal that greater environmental
cooperation may be on the horizon. EDF scientists and policy experts and Cuban scientists and
environmental officials will have a series of meetings about how the United States and Cuba can work
together to protect ocean waters and marine resources shared by the two countries. The meetings
come on the heels of a September visit to the United States by Cuban environmental officials. "The
United States and Cuba share many ecological resources, but the countries have different ways of
managing them," said Daniel Whittle, a senior attorney at EDF and director of its Cuba Program.
"Fishing, coastal development, and offshore oil and gas exploration in Cuba can have impacts in the
United States, and vice-versa. The sooner we work together to manage shared resources and find
solutions common problems, the sooner we'll see benefits for the people, the environment and the
economy in both countries." EDF has asked the Obama administration to ease policies that limit
scientific exchanges between U.S. and Cuban scientists and conservation professionals. Last month the
U.S. State Department issued visas for four Cuban environmental officials to attend scientific meetings
hosted by EDF in Washington, DC, and Sarasota, Florida--the first such meetings held in the U.S. in
several years. "These precedent-setting meetings are a hopeful sign that greater environmental
cooperation is on the horizon," said Dr. Doug Rader, chief ocean scientist for EDF. "An important first
step toward managing our shared marine resources is to share good science and good ideas. We have
a lot to learn from each other." Rader added that expanded scientific and management cooperation
can help address the growing threats to coral reefs, ocean fish populations, habitats for migratory birds,
marine mammals and turtles, and biodiversity. Just 90 miles from the tip of Florida, Cuba shares a large
amount of ocean territory with the United States. Because of the prevailing currents and Cuba's
proximity, preserving its marine resources is critically important to the economies of coastal
communities in both countries.

Overfishing kills food security
Koster, operator of overfishing.org, 2011
(Pepijin, 2/1/2011, Why is Overfishing a Problem? Online:
http://overfishing.org/pages/why_is_overfishing_a_problem.php FG)
In the first chapter we already discussed that globally fishing fleets are at least two to three times as
large as needed to take present day catches of fish and other marine species. To explain why
overfishing is a problem we first have to get an idea on the scale of the problem. This is best done by
looking at some figures published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. 1 The FAO scientists
publish a two yearly report (SOFIA) on the state of the world's fisheries and aquaculture. 2 The report
is generally rather conservative regarding the acknowledging of problems but does show the key issue
and trends. Due to the difficulty of aggregating and combining the data it can be stated that the SOFIA
report is a number of years behind of the real situation. 52% of fish stocks are fully exploited 20% are
moderately exploited 17% are overexploited 7% are depleted 1% is recovering from depletion The
above shows that over 25% of all the world's fish stocks are either overexploited or depleted. Another
52% is fully exploited, these are in imminent danger of overexploitation (maximum sustainable
production level) and collapse. Thus a total of almost 80% of the world's fisheries are fully- to over-
exploited, depleted, or in a state of collapse. Worldwide about 90% of the stocks of large predatory fish
stocks are already gone. In the real world all this comes down to two serious problems. We are losing
species as well as entire ecosystems. As a result the overall ecological unity of our oceans are under
stress and at risk of collapse. We are in risk of losing a valuable food source many depend upon for
social, economical or dietary reasons. The single best example of the ecological and economical dangers
of overfishing is found in Newfoundland, Canada. In 1992 the once thriving cod fishing industry came to
a sudden and full stop when at the start of the fishing season no cod appeared. Overfishing allowed by
decades of fisheries mismanagement was the main cause for this disaster that resulted in almost 40.000
people losing their livelihood and an ecosystem in complete state of decay. Now, fifteen years after the
collapse, many fishermen are still waiting for the cod to return and communities still haven't recovered
from the sudden removal of the regions single most important economical driver. The only people
thriving in this region are the ones fishing for crab, a species once considered a nuisance by the
Newfoundland fishermen. It's not only the fish that is affected by fishing. As we are fishing down the
food web 3 the increasing effort needed to catch something of commercial value marine mammals,
sharks, sea birds, and non commercially viable fish species in the web of marine biodiversity are
overexploited, killed as bycatch and discarded (up to 80% of the catch for certain fisheries), and
threatened by the industrialized fisheries. 4 Scientists agree that at current exploitation rates many
important fish stocks will be removed from the system within 25 years. Dr. Daniel Pauly describes it as
follows: The big fish, the bill fish, the groupers, the big things will be gone. It is happening now. If
things go unchecked, we'll have a sea full of little horrible things that nobody wants to eat. We might
end up with a marine junkyard dominated by plankton.

Food shortages lead to World War III
Calvin, theoretical neurophysiologist at the University of Washington, 98
(William, Atlantic Monthly, January, The Great Climate Flip-Flop, Vol 281, No. 1, 1998, p. 47-64, 6-31-13)

The population-crash scenario is surely the most appalling. Plummeting crop yields would cause some powerful countries
to try to take over their neighbors or distant lands -- if only because their armies, unpaid and lacking food, would
go marauding, both at home and across the borders. The better-organized countries would attempt to use
their armies, before they fell apart entirely, to take over countries with significant remaining resources,
driving out or starving their inhabitants if not using modern weapons to accomplish the same end: eliminating competitors for
the remaining food. This would be a worldwide problem -- and could lead to a Third World War -- but Europe's
vulnerability is particularly easy to analyze. The last abrupt cooling, the Younger Dryas, drastically altered Europe's climate as far east as
Ukraine. Present-day Europe has more than 650 million people. It has excellent soils, and largely grows its own food. It could no longer do
so if it lost the extra warming from the North Atlantic.


Ext Enviro Coop K/

US Cuba cooperation is essential on the environment top environmental groups say
Newhouse 12 Center for International Policy Cuba delegate, NatGeo editor and publisher, and
member of the Cuba Advisory Group
(Elizabeth, The U.S. Must Work With Cuba on the Environment,
http://cipcubareport.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/the-u-s-must-work-with-cuba-on-
the-environment/, 6/24/13, AZ)

It should be an article of faith that the environment is immune from U.S. politics where U.S. interests
are clearly at stake. Thats mostly the case with other countries, but not with Cuba. In New York last
week a workshop organized by The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) highlighted this aberration
and its damaging effects. Participants included a number of key non-governmental groups, such as the
Environmental Defense Fund, the Nature Conservancy, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the
Mote Marine Laboratory. They strongly agreed that measures must be taken to make it easier to
cooperate on the environment with Cuba. Cuba and the United States, whose territorial waters meet
in the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Straits, have much in common ecologically, as Brian Boom of the
NYBG pointed out in his paper Biodiversity without Borders, (PDF). This shared biodiversity ranges
from threatened ecosystems, such as coral reefs and mangrove forests, to thousands of migratory
species, including the Monarch butterfly, the Atlantic bluefin tuna, and the Hawksbill turtle. Many
species have economic value and others are seriously endangered; still others are invasive and highly
disruptive, while others carry serious disease like dengue fever. All of them require ongoing study and
monitoring. Even more urgent, natural disasters (hurricanes) and man-made threats (oil spills) can
cause enormous damage that call for rapid bilateral solutions. The recent start of oil exploration off
Cubas north coast points up the compelling need to prepare for a spilland for the harm that will be
done to the marine environment even without one. However, between the U.S. and Cuba there exists
no governmental cooperation on the environment as on much else. In 2007, Wayne Smith and CIP
determined to work around this vacuum by organizing a conference in Cancun, Mexico, of key Cuban
scientists and environmentalists and a group of their U.S. NGO counterparts (Conference report is
here). The group, the first of its kind, agreed on priorities for research and conservation in the Gulf of
Mexico and set up an organization to establish the gulf as a model for protection. The organization, now
including Mexico and called the Trinational Initiative, plans to hold its fifth meeting this year. CIPs
initiative and other subsequent workshops and conferences have helped ease the way for
environmental NGOs to work in Cuba. It is still far from easy, however. While visas for scientists and
others to go and come are much more available under the Obama administration, tough procedural
obstacles exist in both countries. These include obtaining licenses for people and equipment, funding
limitations due to the embargo, and difficulties in securing project approvals, permits, and research
visas from the Cuban government. As Brian Booms White Paper concludedand workshop
participants vehemently agreedthe ecological stakes urgently call for a government-to-government
accord that will allow professionals to work together on the critical environmental issues that extend
beyond boundaries. Nature knows no nations!

Ext Government K/
Government to government collaboration key to solving the environment
empirically proven
Boom, Director of the Caribbean Biodiversity Program, 12
(Brian M. Boom, September 2012, Biodiversity without Borders: Advancing U.S.-Cuba Cooperation
through Environmental Research, Science & Diplomacy, Vol. 1, No. 3 (September 2012*).
http://www.sciencediplomacy.org/article/2012/biodiversity-without-borders. Accessed June 24, 2013,
RJ)
Nature knows no boundaries, and given the number and scale of environmental problems shared by
Cuba and the United States, combined with the multitude of impediments to finding joint solutions to
these problems, the best way to enhance environmental cooperation between the two countries
would be through the establishment of a bilateral agreement on this theme. The ecological stakes
are too high for Cuba and the United States to rely on anything short of a government-to-
government accord to formalize, catalyze, and facilitate cooperation on environmental problems of
mutual concern. Various models for such an agreement exist: the United States has joint statements on
environmental cooperation with Spain and Italy, an agreement on air quality with Canada, and a
memorandum of understanding on environmental protection with India, among others. Such a
bilateral agreement could logically take advantage of the collective experiences of the U.S.-based
environmental NGO community in conducting collaborative initiatives with Cuban counterparts over
many years and, in some cases, decades. The focus of such a bilateral agreement should be on
helping to facilitate the activities by NGOs that are currently underway and encouraging new
initiatives by NGOs in consultation with and the approval of Cuban authorities. The elements of such an
agreement should take into account the difficulties mentioned above and the following considerations:
strengthened Castros economic hold on the country. The International Trade Commission has
estimated that, in the absence of sanctions, U.S. exports to Cuba would grow to more than $1 billion.
Meat exports from the U.S. could be as much as $76 million, while wheat exports could be as much as
$52 million.12 Yet, since 2005, new obstacles imposed by the Ofce of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
have made the ow of U.S. wheat, corn, soy, powdered milk, and poultry more unreliable, costing
U.S. companies $100 million in deals that Cuba made with rms in other countries.13 In the aftermath
of OFACs maneuvers, Members of Congress say Rice sales have fallen by 43% by value and the value
of dairy also fell 43%. Apple exports have fallen by 64% by value, while the value of cotton sales
declined 55%. The value of our poultry exports has fallen by more than 19%, while wheat sales have
fallen nearly 14%. These lost U.S. sales are being made up by our competitors.14 As American
agricultural sales fell, a November 2005 agreement worth $20 million lifted Canadian wheat sales to
Cuba to their highest level since 1990. The sale of 100,000 tons of Canada Western Red Spring was the
largest single sale to Cuba since 1997. The embargo bars oil exploration by American rms; this is
especially harmful now, as Cuba is encouraging exploration in off-shore blocks in 1,660 square miles of
its waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Indias largest staterun petroleum exploration rm won the rights to
search for oil in these waters.15 Cubas state oil company also signed an agreement with Spains
Repsol YPF, Norways Hydro, and Indias OVL in May 2006 for the exploration of its six offshore blocks.
Venezuelas state-owned oil company will also join in oil exploration in Cubas north coast. According to
Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), agreements like these could mean forever closing the door on those
resources to the U.S. industry.16 Bilateral trade between China and Cuba reached $777 million in
2005, $560 million of which were Chinese exports cnbv Cuba.17 Chinese appliances and transportation
services are ooding into Cuba. The Financial Times reports Cubas ports are being revamped with
Chinese equipment, in part to handle the millions of Chinese domestic appliances that began arriving
last year. Cuba is turning to Chinese rather than Western companies to modernize its crippled
transportation system at a cost of more than $1 billion.18 Cuba has purchased 100 locomotives from
China for $130 million,19 1,000 Chinese buses for urban and interprovincial transportation,20 and
30,000 Chinese refrigerators.21 The Brattle Group reports that an end to travel restrictions to Cuba
would lead to increased demand for air and cruise travel to the region. Without restrictions, it is
estimated that U.S. economic output would expand annually by $1.18 billion to $1.61 billion. This
expansion would create from 16,888 to 23,020 new jobs.22


Cooperation between US and Cuba is proven to solve the environment current
partnerships prove
Waitt Foundation 13 institute dedicated to protection and conservation of oceans and marine
resources
(CUBAN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, http://waittfoundation.org/cuban-
environmental-science, 6/24/13, AZ)

EDFs work to protect important shared marine resources in the U.S. Southeast, the Gulf of Mexico
and Caribbean depends upon close working partnerships with world-class but under-resourced and
little-known Cuban environmental scientists. A biodiversity hotspot, Cuba has regionally important
marine and coastal ecosystems. With connectivity to the United States, the window of opportunity is
now to share our resources and to work together towards solutions. Over the past 12 years, and with
a special license from the U.S. Department of Treasury, EDF has built strong relationships with Cuban
environmental institutions and Cuban environmental scientists, who are among the best educated
and most experienced in the region. Cuban scientists rigorous research has informed important
environmental policy initiatives, including the Cuban governments decision to include 25% of the
insular shelf in marine protected areas (MPAs). The current 108 MPAs represent the following: - 15% of
the Cuban insular shelf - 16 fish spawning sites - 35% coral reefs - 31% seagrass beds - 27% mangroves
However, because of inadequate funding and other constraints on research, field work in Cuba has
been limited and much remains unknown about critical issues such as overfishing, the benefits of
MPAs, and ecosystem vulnerability to changing ocean conditions. These gaps in knowledge hamper
the development of sound environmental policy and effective fisheries management. Project Goals
With support from the Waitt Foundation, EDF is launching a new initiative in 2013, led by Dan Whittle,
to support collaborative field research with scientists from Cubas Center for Marine Research. This
initiative will enable teams of Cuban and American scientists to carry out a series of two- to four-
week research cruises aboard the Cuban research vessel Felipe Poey and will support year-round port
sampling of shark landings in at least four Cuban ports. The overarching project goal is to generate
scientific research that can inform sound policy to improve the performance of fisheries and MPA
networks. Specific objectives are to: 1. Facilitate Cuban environmental scientists research and promote
international awareness of Cubas high-quality marine science. 2. Collect biological and ecological data
essential to the management of sharks and selected reef fish. 3. Assess the biological, ecological and
socioeconomic performance of existing Cuban MPAs. 4. Characterize the socioeconomic contribution of
fisheries and MPAs to the economy. 5. Use research results to inform conservation and management
strategies. Field Expertise Daniel Whittle directs EDFs work to advance conservation of marine and
coastal ecosystems in Cuba. He works with Cuban scientists, lawyers and resource managers to
identify and implement collaborative strategies for fisheries management, coral reef conservation,
and sustainable coastal development in Cuba and the region. For the last decade, Whittle has been
collaborating with Cuban fishermen, scientists and environmental officials on ways to protect shared
resources like fish and marine mammals. Operating under a special license from the U.S Treasury
Department, hes also working to ensure that the right safeguards are in place for projected oil
development off Cubas northwest coast.

Cooperation is key to preserving marine environments affects US economy and
natural habitats
Environmental Defense Fund 12
(U.S. and Cuba seek common ground, http://www.edf.org/oceans/us-and-cuba-
seek-common-ground, 6/24/13, AZ)

Vast untapped reserves of black gold are thought to lie off Cubas north shoreenough, experts say,
to wean the country from its dependence on Venezuelan oil imports. This year Spanish oil giant Repsol
plans to begin exploratory drilling in deep waters 50 miles off Key West, and foreign oil companies
from Russia, Malaysia, Brazil, India and Venezuela, among others, are lining up behind them. For the
United States, Cuba and Mexico, the risks of drilling in deepwaters of the Gulf of Mexico are
enormous. Experts warn that a large spill in Cuban waters could be more catastrophic than the BP
disaster, given the three countries sensitive marine ecosystems. The problems could be compounded
by delays in getting the expertise and state-of-the-art technology needed to deal with a large,
deepwater accident. U.S. policy restricts American companies from working with Cuban enterprises to
protect the waters we share. Can environmental concerns bridge the political gulf? For half a century,
a political gulf has divided our two countries, says EDFs chief oceans scientist Doug Rader. It is time
for a pragmatic approach that would help Cuba prepare for the worst, while developing a strong
foundation for our shared environmental future. Over the past decade, Cuban environmental lawyers
have been developing regulations for offshore oil and gas drilling that include strict oversight. During
the BP oil spill crisis in 2010, EDFs oceans staff provided regular updates to Cuban environmental
officials to help them assess what damage might occur to the islands ecosystems and coastal
communities. Luckily, oil from the BP blowout did not wash onto Cuban beaches. But given
prevailing currents and winds, neither country may be as fortunate next time around. EDF urges that
the United States begin a dialogue with the Cuban and Mexican governments on oil and gas drilling in
the Gulf. The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill recommends that
international standards be developed and specifically that it is in our countrys national interest to
negotiate now with these near neighbors to agree on a common, rigorous set of standards [and] a
system for regulatory oversight Tapping clean energy to reduce oil imports As part of a national
strategy to gain energy independence and reduce global warming pollution, Cuba also hopes to develop
cleaner sources of energy. In 2008, at the request of our Cuban partners we organized an international
symposium on ocean energy to explore ways to develop this largely untapped source without harming
the environment. Cuba provides good conditions for a variety of ocean energy optionsincluding wind
and currentand may prove ideal for ocean thermal energy conversion. As with any large-scale
technology, building and operating energy facilities may pose risks to marine life and habitat. Sensitive
ecosystem such as coral reefs and mangroves, and important nursery and rookery areas for fish,
marine mammals, seabirds and sea turtlesmust be protected. With good standards and policy in
place, Cuba could be a model for clean energy development in the Caribbean, says Dr. Rod Fujita, EDF
senior scientist and director of Ocean Innovations. Fostering further cooperation Cooperation is as
critical to U.S. interests as it is to Cubas. Cuban waters provide vital spawning and nursery grounds
for snapper, grouper and other commercially important reef fish in the United States. Cuba is also the
major stopover point on migration routes to and from South America for most of the familiar
songbirds along the U.S. East Coast. And the two nations quite likely share a recently discovered
deepwater coral ecosystem that extends north to North Carolina. Though the United States and Cuba
share many ecological resources, we have different ways of managing them, says EDF attorney Dan
Whittle, director of our Cuba program. Fishing, coastal development, and offshore oil and gas
exploration in Cuba can have huge impacts on the United States and vice-versa.



AT: Cubas Environment is Fine

Cuba needs outside help to solve environmental problems
Conell, Research associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, 9
(Christina, The U.S. and Cuba: Destined to be an Environmental Duo?,
http://www.coha.org/the-us-and-cuba-an-environmental-duo/, 6/25/13, AZ)

Beginning Concerns The environmental degradation that began during the colonial era has
transcended time as a result of Castros political and economic paradigm. Only in the last 40 years, with
the development of the Commission for the Protection of the Environment and the Conservation of
Natural Resources (COMARNA), has Cuba begun to address growing environmental concerns.
COMARNA consolidated all of the agencies with environmental responsibilities, as a step towards
giving them the power to influence all environmental issues. Although COMARNA was all-inclusive, it
lacked independent authority, so its activities achieved few tangible results. The sad fact was that the
centralized agency only succeeded in aiding the state in squandering resources. In reality, establishing
the agency was a modest concession to ease environmental concerns, but the truth lingered that Cubas
wealth of natural resources remained under the auspices of the government. COMARNA acknowledged
the appeals for conservation by the international community, yet it allowed for the misuse of natural
resources by the State. By way of example, the centralized Cuban agency built thousands of miles of
roads for the development of non-existent state agricultural enterprises and dams where there was
hardly any water to contain. In 1981, Cuba enacted Law 33 in an attempt to legitimize their
environmental laws and regulations, yet Law 33 played only a miniscule role in guiding the extraction of
natural resources and the conservation of ecological life on the island. Lauded as a law ahead of its time,
Law 33 purportedly covers all the regulations concerning the environment and the protection and use of
Cuban national resources, even though it produced few results. The statute includes a section
comparing the wise use of natural resources by communist countries versus the indiscriminate use of
natural resources by the capitalistic world. In this regard, the document is more a piece of political
propaganda than a law meant to be rigorously enforced. Moreover it palls in comparison to
international environmental protection guidelines and has relatively limited significance within the
country since the Cuban government is responsible for the operation of the bulk of the industries and is
therefore the principal polluter and consumer of natural resources. Thus Law 33 exonerates the Cuban
government from enforcing stricter conservation standards by making a system that looks efficient, but
in reality may not be so. A closer analysis on Law 33 exposes its inherent lack of efficacy and
applicability. Attempts to Move Forward In 1994, Cuba developed the Ministry of Science, Technology
and the Environment (CITMA) in order to absorb the tasks of the unproductive COMARNA. CITMA
attempts to steer the implementation of environmental policy, the rational use of natural resources, and
the adoption of sustainable development programs. Law 81 developed out of the necessity to give the
Ministry a more sharply defined role in the government by replacing the outdated Law 33. Law 81, the
Law of the Environment, was enacted in 1997 and presents a comprehensive framework law that covers
all aspects of the environment ranging from air, water and waste, to historic preservation and coastal
zone management. Although it details inspections and an enforcement plan, the law is ultimately
ineffective due to its overarching nature, which makes it difficult to enforce. Law 81 may replace a
necessary revision of Law 33; however, it remains vague in its enforcement procedures. For example,
Law 81, Article 81 states that national resources will be used in accordance with the provisions that
their rational use will be assured, for which their quantitative and qualitative continuity will be
preserved, recycling and recovery systems will be developed, and the ecosystems to which they belong
safeguarded. This portion of the provision elucidates the ambiguous nature of the law, as it continues
to delineate objectives without coming up with specific implementation strategies. In 1997, the Earth
Summit, a conference sponsored by the United Nations aimed at aiding governments in rethinking
economic development and finding ways to halt the destruction of irreplaceable natural resources
and pollution of the planet was held in New York. At the Summit, Cuban officials were refreshingly
blunt in acknowledging the environmental degradation present on their island. In a pamphlet
distributed at the conference, the Havana government stated that there have been mistakes and
shortcomings, due mainly to insufficient environmental awareness, knowledge and education, the lack
of a higher management demand, limited introduction and generalization of scientific and technological
achievements, as well as the still insufficient incorporation of environmental dimensions in its policies.
The authorities also pointed to the insufficient development plans and programs and the absence of a
sufficiently integrative and coherent judicial system, to enforce environmental regulations. After the
Earth Summit, Cuba designed and implemented a variety of programs, administrative structures, and
public awareness initiatives to promote sound environmental management and sustainable
development. Although the conference spurred motivation in environmental matters, Cuba still lacked
the economic resources needed to support its share of environmental protection responsibilities due
to the loss of its financial ties with the former Soviet Union. The Earth Summit came after the fall of
the Soviet Union and the tightening of the U.S. blockade against Cuba in 1992, which resulted in a 35%
retrenchment of the Cuban GDP. The Special Period, referring to the cut off of economic subsidies that
had regularly come from the former Soviet Union, witnessed a decrease in many environmentally
damaging activities both by choice and by necessity. The end of aid from the Russia also resulted in
many decisions aimed at resuscitating the Cuban economy. The economic crisis increased pressure to
sacrifice environmental protection for economic output. Although development slowed due to
economic concerns, the islands forests were particularly overworked for firewood and finished wood
exports. However, the crisis also provided the impetus for pursuing sustainable development
strategies. The principle motivating such change has been a realization that if Cuba does not preserve
its environment, it will, at the very least, lose its attraction to tourists.



Cuba US environmental cooperation allows Washington to brand itself as eco-
friendly
Conell, Research associate at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, 9
(Christina, The U.S. and Cuba: Destined to be an Environmental Duo?,
http://www.coha.org/the-us-and-cuba-an-environmental-duo/, 6/25/13, AZ)

Diverging Views Unlike the U.S., which still has never ratified the Kyoto Protocol, Cuba signed the
document in 1997, which calls for the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the global climate system. This
legally binding international agreement attempts to tackle the issue of global warming and the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S., although a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, has neither
ratified nor withdrawn from the Protocol. The signature alone is merely symbolic, as the Kyoto Protocol
is non-binding on the United States unless ratified. Although in 2005 the United States was the largest
per capita emitter of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, it experienced only a modest
decline of 2.8 percent from 2007 to 2008. This decline demonstrates that the U.S. has the framework to
reverse Cubas substandard environmental track record. By aiding Havana, Washington would be able
to brand itself as an active conservationist. Such a label would enable the U.S. to create a valuable
ecological public image in the international arena. The developmental assistance and economic
growth potential that might stem from a U.S.-Cuba partnership might aid in developing enforceable
implementation strategies. Even though Cubas written regulations characteristically lack feasible,
implementable standards. Cuban laws, currently in effect, do provide a foundation for greater
conservation activity in the future. The Cuban government does show an interest in encouraging
sustainable development initiatives in the future, yet its laws are all based on maintaining a centralized
government featuring a command economy. For example, CITMA appears to be trying to affect change,
but many aspects of Cubas bureaucracy are rooted in the past and it remains difficult to update the
ways of an outdated administrative substructure. If the embargo is lifted without a robust partnership
and plans for environmental sustainability, the invasion of U.S. consumerism may seriously damage the
island.