Next Wednesday, January 13, NRDC is breaking out the blue attire in our closets to show our support of the true blue national ocean policy the Obama administration is creating.
We’re joining with dozens of organizations and activists nationwide for Wear Blue for Oceans Day and encouraging everyone to wear their love for the oceans on their sleeves (or skirts or anywhere else) and help make a public statement in support of greater protection for our oceans.
Every other breath of oxygen we take relies on healthy oceans. So much of our food, jobs, and recreation depend on them. The U.S. ocean economy alone provides more jobs and more economic output than the entire farm sector. And yet our oceans are in a silent state of collapse and need our help. From overfishing and pollution, to warming temperatures and ocean acidification – a national ocean policy strengthens the government's ability to tackle these challenges.
Ocean resources are currently governed by a mix of more than 140 laws and 20 different agencies, each with different goals and often conflicting mandates. Like a Clean Air Act for our air or a Clean Water Act for our water, we need a national policy to protect our oceans.
The Obama Administration is already creating this policy – and we’ll be looking to the President to ring in 2010 by making it official and issuing an executive order that formally establishes:
- a national policy to protect, maintain and restore ocean health
- a national ocean council to oversee its implementation
- a framework for effective marine spatial planning to advance the policy
Here’s how you can join us in showing your support:
- Wear blue on Jan. 13 – and get your friends, family, coworkers or classmates to join you!
- Upload a photo of yourself in blue to the Wear Blue for Oceans site, so everyone can see your support.
- Attend one of the Wear Blue for Oceans events being planned coast to coast. Right now events are being organized in D.C., San Francisco, New Orleans, Houston, Seal Beach (CA), Honolulu, Anchorage, St. Petersburg (FL), and Cambridge (MA).)
- Send a letter to President Obama here, urging him to protect our oceans, coasts and Great Lakes.
This post originally appeared on NRDC's Switchboard blog.