Bill Maher Interviews Ecologist Philippe Cousteau On The Gulf Of Mexico’s Future

Philippe Cousteau, Jr., the ecologist grandson of Jacques, joined Bill Maher on Real Time last night to give his assessment of the Gulf of Mexico, where he has been working to help clean up the oil washing ashore from the the open offshore oil well. While he seemed confident that there was a way to fix the problem, he stressed that the ocean ecosystem will not fix itself.

Maher asked about the situation in Louisiana, where Cousteau had been working for the past weeks– his answer was not incredibly optimistic. He did have a direct answer for people who believe the ocean is strong and healthy enough to fix itself:

“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 anymore. The ocean can’t take any more. They couldn’t take any more fifty years ago. The question is, ‘when are we going to stop?'”

Maher also asked why many people seem to still support the oil industry despite the damage it continues to do in the Gulf, asking if they believe “there is an App from Apple that will fix” the oil spill. Cousteau responded that there were many people in the Gulf still working for those companies, and as loyal employees, they have “too much faith in big business, that they have our best interests at heart,” something that initially surprised him when he began to interact with residents.

Video of the interview below:

Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com