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Save Our Seas: Tell the President to Pass a National Ocean Policy Now
  1. Signatures
    824 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. The President of the United States (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • The President of the United States
      • Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality (Nancy Sutley)
  2. Created By
    Marah Hardt
    Kailua Kona, HI
About this Petition Petition Letter

Our oceans are in big trouble: overfishing and climate change threaten survival of marine life and habitat as we know it. And if they go, so do thousands of jobs, species, and irreplaceable resources.

Currently, what passes for ocean policy is an ineffective bureaucratic nightmare scattered across three Department, two Administrative agencies, the Army Corps of Engineers, and various state and county-level agencies.

In order to reverse the declines and protect the health of the oceans, we need a comprehensive National Ocean Policy.  Last year, President Obama became the first President in U.S. history to advocate for such an approach.

Just last week, the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force released its draft framework for a national policy for our coasts and seas. But it will require serious pressure to make sure those words turn into action amidst the tidal wave of pressing issues on the agenda for 2010.

Let the President and Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality know that you want swift action to establish a comprehensive National Ocean Policy this year.

Recent Signatures

Support for Passing a National Ocean Policy in 2010

Dear

I write to you today to offer my support and to ask you to move forward as quickly as possible to establish a National Ocean Policy this year. I applaud the efforts you have already made, but unless the proposed framework becomes real policy, our ocean health will continue to decline.

As you know, the oceans are suffering under the collective weight of centuries of overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change. The negative consequences ripple through our economy and leave us deprived of valuable resources for food, medicine, and industry.

To restore health to our oceans requires that we immediately initiate effective management focused on protecting and restoring the biodiversity and productivity of our nation's waters.

I urge you to make the oceans a priority for 2010 and to push through the draft framework released by the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. Please make 2010 the year for America's first National Ocean Policy. Our fishermen, coastal communities, and marine industries cannot afford to wait any longer for a holistic approach to ocean management—and neither can our oceans.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

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