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.