WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden intends to issue an executive order today to address the growing climate crisis, including a commitment to rejoin the Paris Agreement. In response, Oceana released the following statement from Jacqueline Savitz, chief policy officer:

“President Biden’s swift action on climate offers hope for our oceans. We welcome this stark change after four years of deregulation and attacks that have left our bedrock environmental laws, and consequently our oceans, bruised and battered.

For too long, our oceans have borne the brunt of the climate crisis, absorbing about a third of the carbon dioxide we emit. This great service the oceans provide is also making them sick. It’s driving ocean acidification, melting sea ice and causing sea level rise. And climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of storms, droughts and wildfires that are taking a toll on human lives. It is causing famine and species migrations that will lead to ecological havoc.

But luckily, we know the solutions and our oceans can play a pivotal role. We must stop the expansion of dirty and dangerous offshore drilling and shift to clean, renewable energy sources like offshore wind. We need to make this shift in our energy paradigm as quickly as possible.

By permanently protecting U.S. waters from new offshore oil and gas drilling, President Biden would not only slow the climate crisis, but also protect coastal communities from the devastating impacts of our fossil fuel addiction. 

As President Biden says, we can ‘build back better,’ and the oceans are no exception – their abundance and biodiversity are essential to a healthier world. If we manage our fisheries sustainably, they can provide 1 billion people a healthy seafood meal every day. Those are meals that don’t require land or fresh water: meals that contribute far less carbon dioxide than other protein sources, and meals that can help us fight off heart disease, diabetes and other health problems.

We applaud President Biden for prioritizing science-based policies and taking the first steps to undo more than 100 rollbacks of environmental protections. Oceana looks forward to working with the Biden-Harris administration to establish a proactive, sensible, science-based approach to restoring and managing our incredibly rich marine resources and our deeply generous oceans.”

Use the following link to share this statement: https://bit.ly/2Y0rJ85

This post was originally published on Radio Free.