It’s been two years since President Obama designated the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National monument, providing full protection of this remarkable ecosystem for generations to come. That includes creatures like sperm whales, ocean sunfish, and basking sharks.
In an executive order, Trump revoked the nearly decade old National Ocean Policy established by President Obama in 2010, stripping our nation of its policy of ocean stewardship and replacing it with one of maximum ocean exploitation..
[Update: On Jan. 4, 2018, the Trump administration announced a new five-year plan that would open up most U.S. continental shelf waters, including protected areas of the Arctic and the Atlantic, to oil and gas drilling. CLF joined 63 other groups in opposing this plan. Read the full joint statement here.] Over the past year, we’ve… Continue reading Not on Our Watch: Protecting New England’s Ocean from Offshore Drilling
National monuments without protections from commercial activities won’t do what they’re meant to do – comprehensively protect our natural, scientific, and cultural treasures In late August, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke submitted to President Trump a report on his summer-long, unnecessary “review” of 27 of America’s treasured national monuments, including two of the newest: the Northeast… Continue reading Monuments on Paper Only?
I recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., where I met with senior officials at the Departments of Commerce and Interior to urge the continued preservation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument – the only such monument in the Atlantic and an ecological gem of immense significance. Our Nation’s Natural Treasures… Continue reading There’s Still Time to Speak Up for New England’s Marine Monument
Soon, President Obama will close his eight years in office with a strong ocean legacy. He will be remembered for having protected more square miles of ocean than any president before. His administration created new marine sanctuaries, expanded Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and of course, designated the first such monument in the Atlantic, the Northeast Canyons… Continue reading Cashes Ledge: The Next Chapter for Protecting New England’s Ocean Treasures
