Songs to Save the Salish Sea

What Would Granny Say?

copyright © 2016 by Sharon Abreu

What would Granny say to her children? What would she need them to know?
She’d say look both ways before you go, and don’t forget I love you so.
What would Granny say to her children, and her great-grandchildren, too?
More than a century living in the sea, she’s learned a thing or two.

What would Granny say, travelling troubled waters?
What would Granny say, to all our sons and daughters?
What would Granny say to her children? Oh, the stories she could tell –
Of seas that filled with salmon, before tankers roared and huge nets fell.

She’d describe the changing shoreline, how cold the water used to be,
Of the blob along the coastline, and of blubber filled with PCBs.

The matriarch of J-pod, beloved Orca tribe –
How did she survive so long, to birth and guide and thrive?

What would Granny say? What would Granny say?
She’d tell them of the borders only human beings can see.
How she fought when she was captured, and how lucky they are to be free.

She’d tell them all the things she’d seen, back when the waters were pristine.
She’d tell them “Always be aware, and above all else, be kind and share.

What would Granny say, travelling troubled waters?
What would Granny say, navigating crowded corridors?

She’d tell them of her journeys, a hundred miles a day –
Some days you’ll have too much to eat; Some days there won’t be any meat.
She’d tell them how the notch got in the trailing edge of her dorsal fin,
How before the ship Titanic sailed, she was slapping waves with her mighty tail.

The guiding light of her family, California to the Salish Sea.
She would guide us if we let her. But will—we—let– her?—

What would Granny say to you and me, if she had the opportunity?
She’d say, “Please save the Salish Sea –
For the fish, the birds, the seals, the whales, and for all– humanity!”

What would Granny say? What would Granny say?

Some said coal could save our soul,
But it was just more CO2.
And we couldn’t deny that people were dying
From the mining and its poisons, too.
COAL AND OIL HAD TO GO!

Ta— ta, ta, ta, ta—
Goodbye, oil!
Ta— ta, ta, ta, ta—
Goodbye, oil!

So, we bought solar panels, yeah, photovoltaics,
Put ‘em in our windows and rooves,
We buy hybrid electric cars,
Windmills and biofuel,
And do the conservation groove!
‘Cause OIL HAD TO GO!

Ta— ta, ta, ta, ta—
Goodbye, oil!
Time to AWAKE! –
Do you know what’s at stake, oil?
What a surprise –
Watch the sea level rise, oil.
Leave you in the ground,
There’s cleaner power to be found, oil.
Your price is too high!
We’ll get our fuel from the sky, oil.
GOODBYE, OIL!

Above: http://idahoptv.org/sciencetrek/topics/food_chain/facts.cfm

Above: Estimated change in sea water pH caused by human created CO2 between the 1700s and the 1990s, from the Global Ocean Data Analysis Project (GLODAP) and the World Ocean Atlas Note: Lower pH (more red) equals more acidic.

Above: From “The Thin Green Line” video at http://www.sightline.org/research/thin-green-line/

Album Notes

With Songs to Save the Salish Sea, Sharon Abreu and Michael Hurwicz of Irthlingz Arts-Based Environmental Education (http://irthlingz.org) are on a mission to inspire stewardship of the great inland sea of the Pacific Northwest, the Salish Sea, stretching from south of Seattle to well north of Vancouver, British Columbia.

In 2012 the Salish Sea — valued for its beauty, recreational appeal and marine life, including salmon and Orca whales — suddenly came under major threat. Island and coastal communities found themselves battling a barrage of proposals by the fossil fuel industry to export large quantities of coal, highly toxic Alberta tar sands oil and explosive Bakken shale oil to Asia through the narrow, already heavily trafficked straits of the Salish Sea.

Along with many other local residents, Sharon and Michael have been fighting back. Their favored weapons: rich vocal harmonies; catchy, lyrical and soaring melodies; and humorous, quirky, poetic and poignant lyrics. They are part of a vibrant movement of people working to stop the proposed gas and oil pipelines, coal and oil trains and supertankers that threaten to severely damage local communities and ecosystems due to derailments, explosions, leaks, and spills. At the same time, they are promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy and emerging transportation alternatives like electric cars, electric bicycles and Solutionary Rail (https://www.solutionaryrail.org).

Sharon Abreu and Michael Hurwicz are the Irthlingz Duo (http://irthlingz.com). They began combining their musical voices for environmental education in 1998. After moving from New York to Washington State, in 2002 they founded Irthlingz (http://irthlingz.org) to engage, inspire and empower people to become stewards of the Earth. Sharon and Michael have performed in concert with legendary folksinger Pete Seeger, at the United Nations and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa, and in events for Bill Nye the Science Guy and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai. In 2016, Sharon performed her one-woman show, The Climate Monologues (http://ClimateMonologues.com), in the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival and the United Solo Theatre Festival in New York. She was interviewed on PBS’s SciTech Now. (http://www.scitechnow.org/videos/the-climate-monologues/#) Also in 2016, Michael published his uniquely recounted history of climate change science, The Meltese Dodo. (http://MelteseDodo.com)

A bit about the songs…

The Salish Sea: “The Salish (SAY-lish) Sea is the intricate network of coastal waterways that includes the southwestern portion of the Canadian province of British Columbia and the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Washington. Its major bodies of water are the Strait of Georgia, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Puget Sound.… Major port cities on the Salish Sea include Vancouver, Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham, Port Angeles and Victoria.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salish_Sea)

What Would Granny Say? : Granny, who is believed to have passed away in the fall of 2016, was a legendary member of J pod, a southern resident killer whale population that travels between the waters of California, Washington State and British Columbia. The oldest known Orca whale (she is believed to have lived to the age of 105), Granny was beloved by people all along the Salish Sea. In 2015, she was elected the honorary mayor of Eastsound, Washington, an unincorporated town on Orcas Island. The election was in reality a fundraiser for the local Children’s House Preschool and Toddler Early Learning Center. (See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granny_(orca)) and https://orcasissues.com/granny-wins-childrens-house-mayoral-race)

The Delta 5 song tells the ongoing story of five activists in northwest Washington State who blocked an oil train for eight hours in 2014. Their trial took place in January 2016. They were found guilty of trespassing. As of this CD release in late April 2017, they are still awaiting a date for their appeal of the verdict. (http://delta5trial.org) See The Delta 5 song music video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0HGFCJ04XE.

Acidification: Coral reefs, shellfish, cold water fish, and the species that depend on them, from Orca whales to humans, are being impacted by the warming and acidification of the oceans. This little ditty tells about it. Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake in the shellfish industry alone.

The Thin Green Line: The Pacific Northwest, known for its focus on “green” practices and lifestyles, finds itself in the position of standing right in-between the fossil fuel industry’s last gasp for profits and the future of human life on Earth as it strives to address climate change in a real way and shift to an economy that thrives due to emerging technologies and jobs in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Thus, these coastal communities of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia have become the “thin green line” standing firmly in the way of huge corporate profits that would be enjoyed by the few at the expense of many. (http://www.sightline.org/research/thin-green-line)