I applaud President Bush’s recent decision to commit $1 billion to space exploration in the 21st century. However, I believe the president would be well-advised to make an equal commitment to exploration of Earth and the one aspect that makes our home planet unique in the known solar system – our oceans.
While the red planet, Mars, holds great fascination for many, it is the blue planet, Earth, that sustains life. The singular reason that life exists on our planet is the fresh and salt water bodies that make up 70 percent of the surface of planet Earth. It is, perhaps, no coincidence that our own physical bodies also constitute 70 percent water.
The question of what happened to the seas of Mars, if they existed, and why they dried up billions of years ago is important, if for no other reason than as a cautionary tale. The oceans of our blue planet provide so much to us like protein as a major source of food, life-saving compounds used in medicines, and life-giving rains that form as a result of the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere. Experts estimate that we have explored only less than 5 percent of the ocean.
Now is the time to make such an investment. Never before have we had such a wealth of information before us. And never before has the need for ocean exploration been so great. The roadmap is clear. We have many resources, such as the Pew Oceans Commission Report, the recently released NRC report “Exploration of the Seas: Voyage Into the Unknown.” And the pending report from the congressionally authorized U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy.
The tide is rising. The experts have spoken. The best minds in the country have been convened numerous times in the last few years. The president’s Panel on Ocean Exploration issued its report in 2000. They recommended an annual investment of $75 million annually in ocean exploration. A paltry sum compared to the recent commitment of $1 billion for a reinvigorated space exploration program.
Mr. President, I encourage you to commit your administration to a $1 billion investment in ocean exploration. In order to truly understand the red planet, or any others in the solar system, we must first understand the blue planet and the oceans that make our home unique. The reality remains Earth is our home and our only alternative.
(c) 2004, Ocean Futures Society

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