11.13.20

Livestream Next Week: Tuesday Hearing on Ocean Climate Action Bill – Effort Would Create Jobs, Reduce Emissions, Protect Millions From Climate Impacts

Washington, D.C. – The full House Committee on Natural Resources, led by Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), will hold a legislative hearing on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time titled Ocean Climate Action: Solutions to the Climate Crisis. The hearing will include consideration of Grijalva’s H.R. 8632, the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act, introduced on Oct. 20.

The 324-page package is the first comprehensive legislative effort to fully utilize oceans’ climate mitigation potential. It addresses the full span of ocean climate issues by creating an ocean-based carbon sequestration program (often referred to as “blue carbon”), providing new funding for shovel-ready coastal restoration and resilience projects, creating a responsible path for offshore wind development, banning dirty and dangerous offshore drilling, and other related efforts. Among other lawmakers, the bill is cosponsored by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who chairs the Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee.

While the bill includes and expands upon several previously introduced smaller measures, much of it is new language. It has been endorsed by a broad range of stakeholders, including Oceana, the Ocean Conservancy, the Center for Biological Diversity, Surfrider Foundation and many others.

Witnesses include:

  • Dr. Jane Lubchenco, University Distinguished Professor, Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology, Oregon State University
  • Dr. Kelsey Leonard, Steering Committee Member, Mid-Atlantic Committee on the Ocean; Enrolled Citizen, Shinnecock Indian Nation
  • Dr. Ray Hilborn, Professor, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington [minority witness]
  • Dr. Kelly Kryc, Director of Ocean Policy, New England Aquarium

Climate change has caused ocean temperatures to increase by an average of 1.3 degrees Celsius per century from 1900 to 2016, bringing alarming sea level rise, more frequent and intense storms, greater storm surge, “sunny day flooding,” damage to coastal infrastructure, erosion, ocean acidification, coral reef die-off, shifting fish stocks, harmful algal blooms, and other unsustainable phenomena.

About 125 million Americans, or 40 percent of the U.S. population, live in coastal counties that are directly threatened by flooding due to sea level rise and extreme weather, and communities of color, low-income communities, and Tribal and Indigenous communities are known to be disproportionately impacted by sea level rise and flooding.

When: 12:00 p.m. Eastern time

Watch Live: https://bit.ly/3nmAtA5 (Facebook) or https://youtu.be/5C9moc4yX1Y (YouTube)

Press Contact

Media Contacts: Adam Sarvana

(202) 225-6065 or (202) 578-6626 mobile