Obama Responds to Ocean Letter

On August 15, Blue Frontier Campaign put together a letter to the presidential candidates signed by 60 ocean leaders calling on them to pledge to protect our ocean by moving forward in four action areas. On September 24, the Obama campaign responded with the following statement:

“President Obama is committed to ensuring that our nation’s vast natural resources are used responsibly, and that we maintain healthy oceans and coasts. By establishing a National Ocean Policy, he made it a priority of the federal government to ensure a proactive approach to improving the conservation of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.”

President Obama is directing additional funding to Gulf Coast restoration to further bring back the fisheries and coastal ecosystems that are still recovering in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon spill. He kicked off the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades, which is targeting ecological problems such as invasive species, toxic hot spots, and pollution runoff. And his administration is cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, establishing a “pollution diet” for the Bay that will help restore the natural habitat for fish and other wildlife. They have also invested over $1.4 billion in Everglades’ restoration, helping restore tens of thousands of acres that will serve as a sanctuary for native Florida plants and wildlife. Under President Obama, we have created or enhanced more than 540 public coastal recreation areas, protected more than 54,000 acres of coastlines and restored over 5,200 acres of coastal habitat. The administration is also investing more in monitoring our fishing stock in coastal areas in order to have the most accurate data possible on the health of our fisheries. These are significant steps that are helping us improve the health of our oceans and build more robust fisheries.

Read the Executive Order — Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes

Read the Final Recommendations

Visit the National Ocean Council website

Read the FAQs

Read the press release

You can read public comments on the Task Force here.

Read the President’s Proclamation on National Oceans Month