“From agriculture and fisheries to recreation and tourism, our regional economy, culture, and way of life are on a knife’s edge,” said Bradley Campbell. “Our ability to stem the loss of other species will tell us whether we have the capacity to save our own.”
Several states, and roughly three hundred U.S. cities and towns, have banned single-use plastic bags. Now, several states in New England, including New Hampshire, are considering similar bans. Kirstie Pecci joins The Exchange to talk more about what we can do to reduce plastic pollution.
“Reducing and weakening the lines in the water is a start, but we need to go much further, much faster,” said Erica Fuller, a senior staff attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation, which has sued NOAA in an effort to force the agency to take more aggressive action to protect right whales.
“As we speak, there are two whales entangled in fishing gear 100 miles from this meeting,” said Erica Fuller, Senior Staff Attorney at CLF. “New England’s iconic whale can be saved if we’d simply stop allowing them to be killed year after year. Reducing and weakening the lines in the water is a start, but we need to go much further, much faster. Appropriate closures and ropeless fishing need to be part of the solution.”
“We need to get lines out of the water if we are going to protect the North Atlantic right whale,” says Emily Green, a lawyer at the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), one of several groups suing the federal government for better protections of the whales, protections that they say are mandated by the Endangered Species Act.
Plastics are everywhere, and they aren’t all recyclable. Until there’s a new system that creates a structure for using less plastic from the beginning, here’s a handy guide to what can and can’t go in the bin.
“We’re committed because we see that farmers and food entrepreneurs play a critical role in our community, so by supporting them we’re able to promote a sustainable and just food system,” Turner said. “For CLF, that’s really important because that means it helps create a healthy climate and a healthy environment, but also a strong economy in Maine.”
Check out the winning artwork from CLF and Bow Seat’s Healthy Whale, Healthy Ocean Challenge. This art contest invited K-12 students from the New England and Gulf of Maine regions in the U.S. and Canada to use their creative voices to highlight the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales and the need for conservation of marine ecosystems and resources.
“North Atlantic right whales are in danger of becoming extinct within our lifetime,” said Dr. Priscilla Brooks, Director of Ocean Conservation at CLF. “The contest has been so important in raising awareness of this critical issue and creating a new generation of young advocates who will fight for the protection of right whales and our oceans.”
“The EPA’s proposed definition is a hasty and ill-conceived effort to revoke longstanding, critical protections of the nation’s waterways under the Clean Water Act,” said Heather Govern, Director of CLF’s Clean Air and Water program. “Not only does the proposed rule strip waters of protection for the benefit of a few sectors of industry, but it does so without a basis in law and ignores good environmental policy.”
