The Trump administration wants to roll back protections for some of our planet's most vulnerable ocean ecosystems... endangering whales, dolphins and countless other marine wildlife and threatening the livelihoods of coastal communities — all so fossil fuel companies and other industrial interests can move in and bolster their profits.
President Trump and Interior Secretary Zinke's proposed rollback of protections for over two dozen national monuments is bad enough. Now, Trump has ordered his Commerce Department to also put 11 marine sanctuaries and monuments on the chopping block.
That includes the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the coast of Cape Cod, the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaii, the Monterey Bay Sanctuary off California and the Thunder Bay Marine Sanctuary off Michigan.
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| Monterey Bay shoreline |
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency under the Commerce Department that's charged with protecting our oceans and their wildlife, is inviting public comments on this dangerous plan until July 26.
The comments will be considered by Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who will then be making recommendations to President Trump on what action to take. We must move quickly to generate an overwhelming public outcry in defense of our nation's special ocean places.
Please speak out now to let Trump and his administration know that we won't stand by and watch our oceans be sacrificed for the sake of oil industry profits.
The consequences of rolling back protections for these areas would be devastating. It would open the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument to oil and gas drilling, commercial fishing, deep seabed mining and other commercial exploitation. And it would open 2,278,400 acres of California's treasured National Marine Sanctuaries to offshore oil drilling.
It would also leave thousands of rare or endangered marine species — including sperm whales, dolphins, deep-water coral, sea turtles and sea birds — vulnerable once again to pollution, drilling and overfishing ... destroy a critical "reservoir of resilience" against climate change ... and jeopardize thriving coastal economies that depend on healthy oceans.
NRDC is working on every front to stop these reckless rollbacks — including preparing to go to court if necessary. But in the meantime, we need to raise our voices and defend these fundamental, irreplaceable pieces of America's natural heritage and all our threatened ocean waters, while we still can.
- Rhea Suh, President, NRDC
The comments will be considered by Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, who will then be making recommendations to President Trump on what action to take. We must move quickly to generate an overwhelming public outcry in defense of our nation's special ocean places.
Please speak out now to let Trump and his administration know that we won't stand by and watch our oceans be sacrificed for the sake of oil industry profits.
The consequences of rolling back protections for these areas would be devastating. It would open the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts monument to oil and gas drilling, commercial fishing, deep seabed mining and other commercial exploitation. And it would open 2,278,400 acres of California's treasured National Marine Sanctuaries to offshore oil drilling.
It would also leave thousands of rare or endangered marine species — including sperm whales, dolphins, deep-water coral, sea turtles and sea birds — vulnerable once again to pollution, drilling and overfishing ... destroy a critical "reservoir of resilience" against climate change ... and jeopardize thriving coastal economies that depend on healthy oceans.
NRDC is working on every front to stop these reckless rollbacks — including preparing to go to court if necessary. But in the meantime, we need to raise our voices and defend these fundamental, irreplaceable pieces of America's natural heritage and all our threatened ocean waters, while we still can.
- Rhea Suh, President, NRDC
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