Today's Editorial for June 11: Thinking globally, acting locally

Caymanian Compass

We have learned there is no threat of oil from the Gulf of Mexico leak washing ashore in the Cayman Islands.

However, this does not mean there is no threat at all to Cayman; scientists believe the Caribbean marine ecosystem could indeed be affected by the Gulf oil spill.

It is known, for instance, that one of the turtles that lays its eggs on Cayman’s beaches has migrated to an area in the Gulf. More significantly, it is thought that ocean-dwelling fish are part of a marine ecosystem interlinked with the Gulf. How that could affect Cayman is anyone’s guess, but the point is that the world’s environment crosses man-made borders of countries. Everything is ultimately linked.

The phrase ‘think globally, act locally’ has been used to encourage worldwide activism on a number of fronts, including the environment. The idea is that environmental issues are everyone’s problem, so everyone should do their part. It has been argued that Cayman is so small, anything it does to address things like its carbon footprint are negligible on a global scale. But just like one vote doesn’t usually win an election anywhere, politicians are ultimately elected by individual voters nonetheless. Every little bit does help, or hurt, depending on the action.

Read the full story here.