State legislators voted Tuesday to ban sunscreens that contain oxybenzone and octinoxate because evidence indicates that, when in the ocean in large amounts, these chemicals can damage coral reefs at nearshore waters.
That’s a pretty good reason to ban something.
It’s also too simple a solution for a complex problem.
Like the ban on chlorofluorocarbons in hair spray in the 1980s, it gives the impression that changing one thing can change everything, when really, it misses the larger point.
A paragraph from testimony submitted by the Department of Land and Natural Resources on the sunscreen ban legislation puts the issue of damage to Hawaii’s coral reefs into perspective:
“It should be noted that the primary stressors of coral reefs in Hawaii are related to land-based source pollution, over-fishing, invasive species, and climate change. Continued legislative support of efforts to reduce these stressors will have the largest impact on coral reef resilience and recovery.”
Indeed. But dealing with the other stuff is hard.
It also should be noted that if there were fewer tourists slathering themselves with sunscreen, yanking on rubber reef-walkers and stomping all over nearshore coral, that would probably help out the reef, too.
There are around 3,000 people visiting Hanauma Bay almost every day of the year. If those 3,000 people were buck naked, chemical-free and leaking only organic-grass-fed sweat and pee into that bay, that would still be too much humanity impacting on the reef.
Additionally, it should definitely be noted that besides the ever-growing number of tourists, Hawaii’s ever-growing number of residents also affect the reef, as does the runoff from manicured golf courses and fertilized yards, cesspool leaching and sewage spills, not to mention all the coastal development and overfishing and random foreign limu that floats in from ballast water or weird tides.
It should be noted that global warming is real, and that affects the reefs, too.
But all those other things are hard to fix, and they don’t make for easy, braggy campaign literature. So much of what is coming out of this year’s Legislature is just that: great lines for the glossy door hangers.
It should be noted that the Legislature has been very excited about telling other people what to do and then taking the credit for doing something. Who is going to be the sunscreen police? Stores won’t be able to sell this stuff, but does that mean state inspectors are going to be doing random spot checks at Longs and Walgreens, reading labels and testing formulas on litmus strips? Nope. It’s a conceptual ban. Tourists can pack whatever they like from home, and nobody is going to stop them on the sand and take swabs of their sweaty backs to see whether they’re legal.
But by all means, ban the sale of sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. Put that in the political win column, like banning plastic bags so that folks can carry their natural hemp-fiber totes into the market to buy GMO-free kale chips that are packaged in Mylar bags that don’t break down and can’t be recycled.
At least it feels like a fix. At least the politicians can take credit.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
