Washington, D.C. — Today, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that repeals major elements of the National Ocean Policy (NOP) established by former President Barack Obama in 2010. The NOP gave states, tribal nations, and coastal communities the ability to set regional priorities for ocean management and to guide the work of more than 20 federal agencies. The NOP also identified long-term challenges facing coastal communities and ocean health that federal agencies would work to address, including ocean acidification, climate change, and threats to sea life. In response, Christy Goldfuss, senior vice president for Energy and Environment at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
This order is just the latest attack in what has become an all-out war on America’s oceans. And it comes as the Trump administration is already trying to put drilling rigs off every coast from California to the Carolinas and make life easier for the biggest polluters. With the action today eliminating the National Ocean Policy, President Trump is trying to wash his hands of responsibility for the real and urgent threats facing America’s coastal communities — namely, the impacts of climate change. In the absence of a president who is willing to lead, it is now more important than ever that coastal governors, tribal leaders, state legislatures, and local communities take up the mantle of leadership and work together to defend and restore the health of America’s oceans.
For more information or to talk to an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected] or 202.478.6327.