Biden’s flurry of executive orders addressing climate change, conservation, and environmental justice has us optimistic. Now we must ensure his administration follows through and turns these orders into meaningful and actionable policy.
“President Biden’s decision to rejoin the Paris Agreement rights an egregious wrong and will require bold U.S. leadership to make up for four years of climate denial,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell. “The only way we’re going to protect our communities, economy, and homes from the climate crisis is by leading internationally. President Biden must translate his campaign commitments into far more than the modest measures the U.S. put on the table when the Paris agreement was struck.”
As we celebrate the four-year anniversary of New England’s national monuments, CLF is part of a growing movement of scientists, policymakers, businesses, and conservation organizations in the United States and around the world calling for the global protection of at least 30% of land and 30% of the ocean by 2030.
We know that to protect biodiversity and build our ocean’s resilience to climate change, we must protect much more of New England’s ocean.
“Trump has once again eliminated critical natural resource protections on a whim and with no legal authority,” said CLF President Brad Campbell. “This lawless act upends over a century of practice by presidents of both parties and puts all national monuments on the block for the highest political bidder. CLF is going to court to protect this natural treasure, one that provides resilience, refuge, and hope in one of the fastest-warming bodies of water in the world.”
The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts is the only fully protected area in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean, covering about 1 percent of New England’s waters. Fully protected means no commercial fishing, no sand and gravel mining, no oil and gas drilling, no industrial development of any kind. Free from these threats, a rich diversity of ocean wildlife… Continue reading President Trump Illegally Stripped Protections for New England’s Marine Monument.
As the nation grapples with the pandemics of racism and COVID-19, President Trump decimated protections for the Atlantic’s only marine national monument, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts. That’s illegal — and CLF and our partners will fight this rollback.
“Once again, the president is making cynical use of the national crises he has inflamed to pander to the very few New Englanders who may still have faith in his leadership,” said Bradley Campbell, President of CLF. “Having ravaged our economy nationally, Trump is now dismantling the few protections now in place to avert the demise of New England’s traditional marine fisheries, culture, and economy. We call on the New England delegation and the public to fight this attack on our ocean and our future by all means available.”
“Today’s decision is a clear victory for our oceans and for the Atlantic’s only marine national monument,” said Peter Shelley, Senior Counsel at CLF. “This decision upholds protections for one of the most fragile and scientifically important areas in the North Atlantic from destructive activities like oil drilling and industrial fishing. Safeguarding the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts ensures that we are leaving a proud legacy for the people of New England.”
The world’s oceans are in dire straits. A startling UN report confirms what we at CLF have been saying for years: Without drastic measures to halt climate-damaging emissions and protect our oceans, life in New England, and around the world, will be forever changed. If we act now, we can still protect our oceans and way of life for future generations. But we don’t have a moment to waste.
