Ignoring the ocean and communities that rely on it is no longer an option

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Dear Friend,

As we work to address the climate and biodiversity crises, it is imperative that we put justice and equity at the heart of our solutions, including for the ocean. Black, Indigenous, and people of color along the coasts have been disproportionally impacted by rising sea levels, intensifying storms, and the planet-killing oil and gas industry. Seaside communities battle pollution, industrial fishing, habitat loss, and development that’s wiping long-time neighborhoods and traditions off the map.

Change is badly needed. Earthjustice is among 18 environmental justice, community, Indigenous, and national ocean conservation organizations that joined together to create the Ocean Justice Forum and develop the Equitable and Just Ocean Policy Platform. The Platform lays the groundwork for addressing these issues head-on.

This advocacy is already bearing fruit: the Biden administration launched a comment period to collect input on a national Ocean Justice Strategy. We need your help to make ensure the Biden administration creates an ambitious an actionable plan that meets the moment.

For too long, politicians and extractive industries have used the ocean and communities that rely on it as a bargaining chip. Most notably, the Inflation Reduction Act made historic investments to fight the climate crisis, but came at the cost of allowing even more drilling and more pollution in the historically marginalized communities of the Gulf of Mexico and Alaskan coasts.

Even without the new challenges from the Inflation Reduction Act, the status quo was already unacceptable. The hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico coast is riddled with chemical plants, including roughly half of the nation’s oil and gas refineries. Inequitable government decisions have situated these polluting facilities in low-income areas. The Union of Concerned Scientists found that those burdens fall most heavily on people of color: Latinx and Black households are, respectively, 60% and 75% more likely to have chemical facilities nearby than the nation as a whole.

Extractive industries want us to accept that the ocean and communities on its shores are dumping grounds for their pollution, but that’s not up to them — it's up to us. Tell the Biden administration it’s time to chart a new course with an ambitious Ocean Justice Strategy.

Sincerely,
Kristin Butler
Associate Legislative Representative

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