Emergency Action Needed - Ocean Conservation Funding In Jeopardy
The CLEAR Act that recently passed the House Natural Resources Committee included a number of beneficial ocean titles. Of particular importance, it establishes a major annual fund for ocean conservation that would go to high priority science and activities to protect and restore oceans and coasts, including the Gulf. The ocean funding would help promote the basic health and resilience of these ecosystems so that when disasters happen, whether natural or man-made, they can better recover.
The CLEAR Act also establishes Regional Coordination Councils (RCC) to plan on an ecosystem basis and coordinate the efforts of federal, state and local management entities. These are needed today to ensure that the money applied in the Gulf relief effort actually achieves its intended results. In the future, these councils will apply the right expertise in rebuilding all coastal and ocean ecosystems.
House leadership is moving a Gulf Response bill to the floor on Friday. Unfortunately, these two critically important ocean health provisions are at risk from being stripped from that legislation. It's now or never - your Representative needs to hear from you today! Please act now to tell Congress to include the Ocean Resources Conservation and Assistance fund in their Gulf response package.
22 July 2010, 8:00 pm