PETITION CLOSED

  • The time period for signing this petition has ended.
Hey EPA, Use the Clean Water Act to Help Stop Ocean Acidification
  1. Signatures
    770 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency (Lisa Jackson)
  2. Created By
    Marah Hardt
    Kailua Kona, HI
About this Petition Petition Letter

The Clean Water Act could be used right now to help stop the spread of ocean acidification in our seas— all we need is for the EPA to take action.

As climate change legislation languishes in Congress, the oceans continue to absorb huge amounts of man-made carbon dioxide, leading to ocean acidification that threatens all forms of marine life, including corals, shellfish, and the plankton upon which whales and fish, such as salmon, forage.

Ocean acidification disrupts growth and development of many species, reduces reproductive rates, and threatens to dissolve coral reefs, worth billions of dollars for food, tourism, and pharmaceutical industries.

But we don’t have to wait for Congress to pass new regulations to stop ocean acidification.  The Environmental Protection Agency sets national water quality criteria to protect marine life and habitat , and the Clean Water Act provides a tool to regulate changes in seawater acidity.

The EPA simply needs to revise its water quality criteria to reflect new science on ocean acidification and prohibit the worst impacts of acidification. 

EPA’s water quality criteria for ocean acidity are over 30 years old, and new science shows that ocean acidification is spreading rapidly and threatens the living marine resources we depend upon.  Already, scientists have found ocean acidification reaching our coastal waters, exposing marine life to corrosive conditions.

New standards could force states to take measures to control pollution causing acidification, in this case, greenhouse gas emissions.

The Center for Biological Diversity has already petitioned the EPA to revise its water quality criteria.  Write a letter to the head of the EPA, Lisa Jackson, to encourage her to press forward with stronger standards to prevent ocean acidification.

 

Recent Signatures

Please revise national water quality criteria to help stop ocean acidification

Dear

Please take swift action to stop ocean acidification by revising national water quality criteria for pH under the Clean Water Act.

I am sending this letter today via change.org because ocean life cannot afford any further ocean acidification. Carbon dioxide pollution, the result of our burning of fossil fuels, has changed seawater chemistry at a rate faster than seen in millions of years, affecting the growth, reproduction, and health of all marine life. Scientists predict that continued declines in pH could lead to collapse of global fisheries and cause coral reefs to dissolve, affecting the food supply and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people.

Under the Clean Water Act, the EPA is required to periodically revise national water quality criteria based on the most recent science, and the most recent science shows that ocean acidification is perhaps the most serious threat to ocean health of our time.

The Clean Water Act’s goal is to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and
biological integrity of the Nation’s waters” and thus, the EPA has the authority and duty to act to ensure that ocean acidification does not further harm ocean life or habitat.

I look forward to your prompt action and response to this most urgent issue.

Thank you,

[Your name]

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