“This proposed rule change would hobble the most important tool that states have to protect significant waters, from prized trout streams to essential drinking water sources,” said Bradley Campbell, president of the Conservation Law Foundation.
As the Trump administration continues to shirk its responsibilities on climate, New England states have recognized the need for local leadership to fill the federal void.
“If passed, this bill would be a giant step backward for fisheries and fishing communities,” said Dr. Priscilla Brooks, Director of Ocean Conservation at CLF. “We need fishery management practices based on science and accountability that benefit our fisheries, fishing communities, and marine ecosystem. Here in New England, we don’t have to look any farther than the dire state of Atlantic cod for proof that now is the time to bolster our federal fishery law, not roll it back.”
As the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. President Trump revoked the National Ocean Policy last summer, but here in New England, ocean planning – the idea that we can be smarter and more coordinated about how we collectively use and manage our ocean – lives on.
“There is no more time for half measures or endless meetings and discussions,” said CLF Senior Attorney Erica Fuller. “Critically endangered right whales can recover, but we need to stop killing them now. Both the U.S. and Canadian governments must take additional action to protect this majestic species before it disappears from our oceans forever.”
Stand up for the Atlantic’s only marine monument: the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts.
“The loss of [six] more whales, and at least two breeding females, is catastrophic,” said Erica Fuller, a senior staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, which has sued the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to force it to take more aggressive action to protect right whales. “Both countries need to treat this like the emergency that it is.”
“By rolling back even modest efforts to curb climate-damaging pollution from the power sector, the EPA has signed the death certificates of thousands of Americans,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell. “Dirty coal and fracked gas spew toxic pollution into our communities and bring the looming climate crisis even closer to reality. Yet again, this administration has sacrificed public health and safety at the altar of the fossil fuel industry.”
New England’s storied cod population is on brink of collapse. Our regional and federal fishery managers are tasked with maintaining a healthy Atlantic cod population. Yet they have a long record of making management decisions that do more harm than good.
“The ‘Canada isn’t doing enough’ mantra is outdated and deflects attention from the need for the US to do more,” said Erica Fuller, a senior staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation.
