60 Ocean Leaders send message to the candidates
August 15, 2012
The Blue Frontier Campaign has sent the letter below to both presidential candidates, Mitt Romney & Barack Obama – on behalf of the ocean. Signed by 60 prominent ocean leaders, David Helvarg’s letter is eloquent, important, and definitely worth the read.
Call to President Barack Obama & Governor Mitt Romney to Protect the Ocean!
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| (c) Kip Evans Photography |
As citizens involved with our seas we call on and expect the next President of the United States to support our nation’s ocean based economy and assure the sound stewardship of our coasts and ocean. Our nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone, stretching 200 miles out from our shores, is the largest in the world, a blue frontier more extensive than our continental landmass. With increased scientific knowledge and understanding of this, our nation’s second great frontier, comes both an opportunity and a responsibility to restore the blue in our red, white and blue.
Recognizing that the protection of coastal communities and ocean-dependent jobs, the marine environment and America’s maritime heritage has long been a bipartisan goal, we ask that the two leading candidates for President of the United States in 2012 – President Barack Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney – and their parties and campaign organizations – commit to the following broad principles and actions:
I. In the International Arena
• Support initiatives to protect our global commons on the high seas and the polar seas through agreements to restore fish and other marine wildlife, reduce marine pollution, encourage scientific collaboration and protect vital habitats including seamounts, coral reefs and coastal mangroves.
• Based on the work of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush who established the highest level of protection for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument of Hawaii, support similar global efforts now underway to create a network of large wilderness parks in the sea like the United States’ unique system of National Parks and National Seashores that can act as a world repository of marine biodiversity for our and future generations.
II. In the United States
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| (c) Kip Evans Photography |
• Implement a national ocean policy that will coordinate federal efforts to eliminate agency conflicts and redundancy while working with traditional and emerging users of our public seas. This policy should also embrace local, state and regional solutions to ensure healthy and productive seas while addressing emerging challenges including protecting coastal populations at risk, providing resources to our emerging blue water coastline in the Arctic and addressing the impacts of sea-level rise and ocean acidification.
• Recognizing that our EEZ frontier waters and our national economy depend on healthy seas, new discoveries and maritime enforcement, the next President should commit to fully fund the marine stewardship, exploration and law-enforcement missions carried out by the frontline agencies on America’s blue frontier including the United States Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
We believe a commitment to these four action areas by the next President of the United States will help turn the tide in restoring a vital element of the American economy and our national and natural heritage from sea to shining sea.
We look forward to your response
With regards and respect,
Jesse Ausubel Director, Program for the Human Environment, The Rockefeller University
James N. Barnes Executive Director, Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition
Dana Beach Executive Director, South Carolina Coastal Conservation League
Wendy Benchley Co-Founder, Peter Benchley Ocean Awards
Jeff Benoit President, Restore America’s Estuaries
Graham Casden Founder, Ocean First Divers
Celine Cousteau Executive Director, CauseCentric Productions
Fabien Cousteau Founder/Executive Director, Plant A Fish
Jean-Michel Cousteau President and Chairman, Ocean Futures Society
Philippe Cousteau President, EarthEcho International
John C. Cruden President, Environmental Law Institute
Bob Davidson President and CEO, Seattle Aquarium
Alex Earl Executive Director, Project AWARE
Sylvia Earle National Geographic Explorer in Residence
Kristen Fletcher Executive Director, Coastal States Organization
Jenifer Austin Foulkes Manager, Google’s Oceans Program
John Frawley President & CEO, The Bay Institute/ Aquarium of the Bay
Vicki Nichols Goldstein Executive Director, Colorado Ocean Coalition
Randy Hayes Executive Director, Foundation Earth
David Helvarg Executive Director, Blue Frontier Campaign
Debbie Kinder CEO, Blue Ocean Film Festival
Dean C. Klevan, President and CEO, The International Seakeepers Society
Wayne Levin Fine Art Photographer
Shaun MacGillivray Managing Director, One World One Ocean
David McGuire Executive Director, Sea Stewards
Jim Moriarty CEO, Surfrider Foundation
Rob Moir PhD Director, Ocean River Institute
Bill Mott Director, The Ocean Project
Ralph Nader Consumer Advocate
Wallace J. Nichols PhD Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences
Dr. Michael K. Orbach Professor of Marine Affairs and Policy, Duke University Marine Laboratory
Prof. Chris Palmer Director, Center for Environmental Filmmaking, American University
Dr. Steven Palumbi Director, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University
Mark D. Perry Executive Director, Florida Oceanographic Society
Steven Daniel Pingaro CEO, Sailors for the Sea
Shari Sant Plummer President, Code Blue Foundation
Louie Psihoyos Executive Director, Oceanic Preservation Society
Dr. Nancy Rabalais Professor, Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium
John Racanelli CEO, The National Aquarium
Joshua Reichert Managing Director, Pew Environment Group
Drew Richardson President and Chief Operating Officer, PADI Worldwide
Jeremy Rifkin President, Foundation on Economic Trends
Daniella Russo Executive Director, Plastic Pollution Coalition
Carl Safina Founding President, Blue Ocean Institute
Cynthia Sarthou Executive Director, Gulf Restoration Network
Jerry R. Schubel, PhD President & CEO, Aquarium of the Pacific
Jason Scorse, Ph.D. Director, Center for the Blue Economy, Monterey Institute of International Studies
Andrew Sharpless CEO, Oceana
Mark Shelley Executive Director, Sea Studios Foundation
Brian Skerry Underwater Photojournalist
Mark J. Spalding President, The Ocean Foundation
Daniel T. Stetson President and CEO, The Ocean Institute
Dave Toole Executive Director, DigitalOcean
Jim Toomey Creator, Sherman’s Lagoon, syndicated daily comic strip
Don Walsh, PhD Explorer and Oceanographer
David Wilmot, Ph.D. Co-Founder and President, Ocean Champions
Wyland Marine Life Artist
Marc Yaggi Executive Director, Waterkeeper Alliance
Cindy Zipf Executive Director, Clean Ocean Action
Thank you for writing such a powerful letter. I will do my best to bring attention to these ever urgent issues. I may not have my name listed above, but I strive to reach as high as I can in order the save our life support, our blue planet, from the nightmare that lurks and looms in front of us everyday.
Beautiful letter. We need to show our power and use our votes, our dollars, our actions and our speaking to stand up for our beloved Oceans! United we can make a huge difference!
Happy early Birthday wish to Dr Earle!
I love the letter. I wish I had faith that it would be read and taken to heart but I lack faith in our governments resolve to stand up to big oil and global fishing pressures. I'd like to see this letter addressed to each individual congressman and senator as well with a list of signatures from those included and from the general population. I love to read down the list and see all the big guns onboard. I hope my cynicism is proven unfounded. Thanks to all who worked on this from me, and my children.
Thanks for your comment! It was not omitted intentionally by the author, I am sure. We are all driven, and haunted by what Dr. Earle calls, 'tomorrow's child' – those yet to come for whom we fight to save our ocean planet.
You forgot “Child” (insert name here) of the future that would like to have an ocean with inhabitants to research, admire, care and love.
Signatures of our future are more important than signatures of the past.