Fighting for New England’s Future: CLF’s New President, Brad Campbell, Takes the Reins… Windward Progress: Offshore Wind in Rhode Island… Why I Give: Justin Boyan… Five Questions For: Dr. Sylvia Earle
Beneath the waves are seascapes as diverse and breathtaking as anything found on land. Yet only a fraction of our ocean is protected worldwide. We make the case for protecting vital seascapes like Cashes Ledge, so that our ocean can survive and thrive for generations to come.
In August 2015, conservationist and oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle launched a dive expedition to Cashes Ledge, the underwater mountain range 80 miles off the coast of Portland. We asked Dr. Earle about the need to protect Cashes Ledge and why she has designated it one of her “Hope Spots.”
Today, record numbers of Americans suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma, which are strongly influenced by their neighborhood and environmental conditions. At the same time, traditional sources of public funding for development are drying up, making the vision of a healthy community harder to realize.
Cars, trucks, and buses are the largest and fastest-growing contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, states are struggling to maintain public transit infrastructure, highways, and bridges in the face of scant funding and skyrocketing costs. These problems, though far-reaching, have solutions, though finding them will take investment, political will, and tenacity.
In New England, the ocean is an integral part of our lives, economy, and communities. But today, our need for the ocean’s resources is growing. So New England is leading the way in creating the country’s first regional ocean plan to balance ocean protection with responsible development.
Our most iconic waterscapes – Cape Cod, Great Bay, Lake Champlain, and Narragansett Bay – are slowly being choked by nutrient pollution. Nutrient pollution is traced to fertilizer runoff from agriculture and lawns, animal waste from factory farms, and overflowing sewage. CLF is fighting against nutrient pollution and for clean water in New England.
With healthcare costs and rates of obesity and other chronic disease soaring – especially among low-income populations – community groups and public health organizations are increasingly aware that improving neighborhood environments can boost health outcomes. But, traditional financing sources simply aren’t capable of addressing those needs at the project level.
“New Englanders living in low-income and communities of color are more deeply impacted by our current environmental challenges than society at large,” says Veronica Eady. That’s why CLF, in collaboration with community groups and residents in environmental justice communities, is working to reduce the environmental hazards that threaten public health across New England.
It’s tempting to leave the problem of stormwater runoff to cities, towns, and businesses. But our houses also takes away the landscape’s ability to soak up precipitation naturally. Solutions to start greening our home landscapes, however, can be as simple as buying a rain barrel and planting a rain garden.
