OPINION:
Hawaii Gov. David Ige is poised to sign into law a ban on popularly used sunscreens out of concerns the chemicals used within the product — chemicals that have been deemed safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration for decades — may harm coral reefs.
Leave it to environmentalists to put ocean life before people, to elevate ocean organisms above that of humans.
Forget skin cancer. It’s the state of the coral reefs that’s most important?
“We’re taking away a product, or products … that have been shown over the course of time to be safe and effective [against skin cancer and sun damage],” said Jay Sirois, the director of regulatory affairs for the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, NPR reported.
According to NPR, roughly 70 percent of sunscreens sold in America contain oxybenzone. Another 8 percent or so contain octinoxate. And both have been deemed safe by the FDA for years and years.
But then came biologist Craig Downs with the Haereticus Environmental Lab who, along with his fellow environmentalists, looked at a study from 2015 that alleged “juvenile coral” die after coming in contact with the chemical. And after conducting his own tests — in a lab, not the ocean — he called for lawmakers to ban the sunscreen products in order to protect the reefs.
Problem is, the tests Downs conducted are hardly conclusive. A lab setting is far and away different from an ocean. one is controlled, the other — a wide open door for literally hundreds of other factors. What’s to really say sunscreen is the big bad wolf?
The bigger problem is this, though: Environmentalists are far too willing to set aside humans to make way for animals or plants or rocks or water. That’s backward.
God gave humans dominion over the world. God didn’t put coral reefs as more important than humankind.
And yes, while preservation and conservation are necessary and proper activities, these environmental goals should never supplant the rights of humans.
In a toss-up between saving corral reefs — or, in this case, potentially saving corral reefs — and saving humans from skin damage and worse, skin cancers, the winner should always be the ones created in the image of God.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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