I was surprised and delighted to see that Bush will designate a 1,400-mile island chain northwest of [tag]Hawaii[/tag] as a [tag]national monument[/tag] today. It will, apparently, be the largest protected [tag]marine reserve[/tag] in the world.
Oddly enough, up until fairly recently, the president held the opposite position. While Clinton had declared a coral reef ecosystem reserve in the area, [tag]Bush[/tag] considered a plan to remove some environmental protections. What caused the flip-flop? A [tag]PBS[/tag] film.
A turning point came in April, when Bush sat through a 65-minute private White House screening of a PBS [tag]documentary[/tag] that unveiled the beauty of — and perils facing — the archipelago’s aquamarine waters and its nesting seabirds, sea turtles and sleepy-eyed monk seals, all threatened by extinction.
The film seemed to catch Bush’s imagination, according to senior officials and others in attendance. The president popped up from his front-row seat after the screening; congratulated filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the late underwater explorer Jacques [tag]Cousteau[/tag]; and urged the [tag]White House[/tag] staff to get moving on protecting these waters.
“He was enthusiastic,” Cousteau said. “The show had a major impact on him, the way my father’s shows had on so many people. I think he really made a discovery — a connection between the quality of our lives and the oceans.”
So that’s what it takes to get through to Bush. He doesn’t respond to government reports or policy briefings; he reacts well to information he learns from TV.
This isn’t the first time. Let’s not forget that the seriousness of the Hurricane [tag]Katrina[/tag] crisis didn’t begin to “sink in” for Bush until Dan Bartlett put together an easy-to-understand video montage for him on a DVD, a few days after the levees broke.
Of course, if that’s all it takes, I suspect a certain former Vice President might be willing to screen a certain movie for Bush….