On January 13th, people around the country will be wearing blue for oceans to support the first-ever national ocean, coast, and Great Lakes policy.
Our nation's oceans and coasts are spectacular, resource-rich environments that are home to an incredible diversity of life, but they're managed by 20 different federal agencies trying to implement 140 separate and sometimes conflicting laws and regulations. To help overcome the threats facing our oceans and coasts, we need a unifying, national ocean policy that protects, maintains, and restores our remarkable ocean and coastal resources – and we now have the opportunity to get just that.
The Federal Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, which held one of six public hearing sessions in Gulf Region during October, has released its recommendations for national marine spatial planning policy (click here for the report). It's time to come together to show support for our oceans and coasts and urge President Obama to issue an Executive Order to turn these recommendations into reality. Go to wearblueforoceans.org to attend an event near you, or to sign up to host your own!
The ninth largest body in the world, the Gulf of Mexico, often considered “The Mediterranean Sea of the Americas,” is an astonishingly diverse, interconnected ecosystem. Yet the Gulf and its communities face the increasingly serious consequences of Dead Zone-causing pollution, a severe oil and gas industry footprint, unsustainable fishing practices, dramatic wetlands loss, and ocean acidification from global warming. An ecosystem-based, conservation-guided national ocean policy will help us protect and restore these extraordinary and necessary resources for years to come. So check out wearblueforoceans.org, and come out to an event near you on January 13th!
And for a great talk on why our ocean resources are so crucial, check out renowned ocean researcher Sylvia Earle’s Ted Prize talk:
