Tuesday’s verdict was one welcome step toward change. But at CLF, we believe that real progress lies in systemic policy change that will break down the racist systems that have been in place for generations – ending white supremacy in this country.
“President Biden’s ambitious goal promises the aggressive push we need to confront the existential threat that is the climate crisis,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell. “Several New England states have already committed to strong, science-based reductions in climate-damaging emissions, and it’s time the rest of the country catches up with our leadership.”
“It’s past time a police officer is finally held accountable for the murder of an unarmed Black man,” said Bradley Campbell, President of CLF. “But the months since George Floyd’s murder have shown that this is a pervasive and systemic problem that continues to cost innocent Black lives. Today’s verdict should not distract from the need for thoroughgoing reform of policing and a shift of resources to victimized communities.”
Biden’s infrastructure package represents a critical investment in our future, infusing much-needed funding to ramp up New England’s transition to a carbon-free economy by 2050.
“After four years of Trump obstructing clean energy and promoting dirty fuels at every turn, President Biden’s focus on offshore wind comes not a moment too soon,” said Bradley Campbell, President of CLF. “Wind has the potential to power our homes, our green economy, and our transition away from polluting fossil fuels for good. However, projects must be responsibly sited to protect ocean life as well. Today’s announcement should be a boon to New England’s nascent wind industry and a strong start to the administration’s pledge to have a zero-emission grid by 2035.”
To be environmentalists – to stand up for healthy communities for all people across New England – we must be anti-racist. We cannot, and will not, be silent.
“The Supreme Court correctly rejected this baseless challenge to the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument,” said Peter Shelley, Senior Counsel at CLF. “The science supporting the need for this critical protected area—the only one along the Atlantic seaboard—has only gotten stronger and more compelling. The Biden Administration must now reinstate the ban on commercial fishing within the monument’s boundaries as soon as possible.”
“It’s concerning any time you get a statement like this from a justice, especially from the chief justice,” said Peter Shelley, senior counsel at the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston. “The tea leaves of this statement are going to be read closely by people with very different perspectives.”
In 2020, the EPA awarded CLF a DERA grant to partner with New York Cruise Lines, Inc. Grant recipient shares how this $1.8 million grant makes a difference for the community, the environment, and the cruise industry.
Protected areas like the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts are critical in the fight to give these waters and species a chance to recover. We know that setting aside parts of the ocean leads to healthy marine life, which fuels an abundance and diversity of life in adjacent waters. That, in turn, supports our ocean economy, including commercial and recreational fishing and whale watching in the long run. Everyone wins.
