Philippe Cousteau Headlines National Green Schools Conference

Minneapolis, MN, Oct. 24-26, 2010

Philippe Cousteau does not believe the Gulf of Mexico can naturally dispose of oil and chemical dispersants without significant long-term environmental consequences. He will provide educators who attend the Green Schools National Conference in Minneapolis next month his valuable long-term perspective on the worst environmental disaster U.S. history, joining an infamous listing of global events that include the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion in 1986 and a 1984 pesticide plant gas leak in Bhopal, India, that killed more than 3,000 people and poisoned hundreds of thousands more.

Cousteau will challenge educators and youth at the Green Schools National Conference to be thoughtful consumers of media reports on environmental issues, skeptical of quick-fix solutions and use their schools as laboratories to think about and develop thoughtful remedies to environmental problems along with ways to preserve natural resources over the long-term.

“I could cut my leg off, I could cut my arm off, I could gouge my eye out, I’d still probably survive, but not very well—and that’s what we’re doing to the ocean. It’s the life support system of this planet. We’ve been dumping in it, we’ve been polluting it, we’ve been destroying it for decades, and we’re essentially maiming ourselves …  It’s not a question of whether the oceans can take any more. The ocean can’t take any more," says Cousteau, a successful entrepreneur, environmental activist and public affairs personality. Alongside his work as CEO of EarthEcho International and co-founder of Azure Worldwide, Cousteau is the chief ocean correspondent for both the Animal Planet and Planet Green channels, where he works on various ocean and water-focused documentary programs.

The highlight of the conference will be practical sectional programming where school and environmental leaders can share information relevant to public schools, public charter schools, private schools, nonprofits, and government and corporate partners interested in a National Green Schools movement.

Other keynote speakers include:

• Jayni Chase, founder, Center for Environmental Education
• David Sobel, director of teacher certification programs, Antioch University New England
• Michael Stone, senior editor, Center for Ecoliteracy
• Marilyn Black, founder, Greenguard Environmental Institute
• Ann Cooper, partner with Lunch Lessons and nutrition services director, Boulder Valley School District
• Rachel Gutter, education-sector director, U.S. Green Building Council