CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Global Defense of Environment Urged

French ocean explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who is campaigning for international action to protect the environment, said that human destruction of the planet can only be halted through the adoption of internationally mandated environmental laws. “I am proud of a human species that overcame nature, provided we don’t spoil it by tremendous mistakes,” Cousteau, 82, told an audience at the Commonwealth Club of California. Cousteau’s speech, which will be broadcast on American public radio next week, is part of a U.S. tour he began last week to promote a worldwide petition drive to establish a bill of rights for future generations. The Cousteau Society in Europe has already collected 1.5 million signatures for the petition, which calls for an amendment to the U.N. Charter and creation of a new international body to enforce laws protecting the environment.