It’s Time, Again, to Say No.
The ocean can’t speak for itself, so it’s time (again!) for us
to speak out, and write, on behalf of ocean protection. The Trump
Administration plans to open over 90 percent of America’s outer continental shelf
for offshore oil and gas exploration and development.
The
deadline for public comment on this proposal is this coming Friday March 9.
“The President’s offshore oil and gas plan is an outrage—a huge
step backward,” says Monterey Bay Aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard.
“Our remarkable ocean ecosystems, and all of us who depend on them, deserve
better.
“We’ll win this fight,” Julie says. “California has a diverse
and thriving coastal economy because the benefits of a beautiful and healthy
coastline far outweigh the risks of offshore oil development. We’re also
leading the way to a clean-energy future. That’s where progress and prosperity
lie.”
Our Blue Theology Ministry promotes creation care and God’s love
of all creation, great and small, wet and dry.
If you are a person of faith, I encourage you to frame your comments in
the language of faith.
In my comment I told Interior Secretary Zinke that because I am a
Christian, I am compelled to “tend and care for the garden,” to be a good
steward of all of God’s creation. Oil
and gas drilling directly threatens ocean ecosystems. Continuing to extract fossil fuels is causing
climate change, already threatening all living beings.
I also wrote that I follow Jesus, which means I must care deeply
for “the least of these.” The poor and the powerless are the ones most
seriously impacted by sea level rise and “climate chaos” (the new phrase
scientists now use instead of “climate change”) and the poor have the least
resources to fight it.
My faith demands that I oppose this proposal.
For more info or to comment:
-Monterey
Bay Aquarium statement and talking points:
-www.saveourshores.org for sample letter.
-Text
“Oceans” to 52886 to tell Secretary of the Interior Zinke to protect our coast.
You can also say in your comment that clean energy makes more
sense than fossil fuel, that nearly every coastal state governor opposes this plan,
that oil spills threaten our coastal economies like fishing, research,
education, recreation and tourism that generate $8 billion a year, that if Secretary
Zinke can exempt Florida from this drilling plan (which he has) because their
economy depends of tourism, why not the other coastal states……
Oh, it is so tempting to give in to anger or despair. I know I do.
Please, just write. Do
something, however small, to support ocean protection. Support Save Our Shores or the Aquarium or other
ocean conservation organizations. Come
visit our Blue Theology Mission Station for a day or a week for an ocean
pilgrimage or service project on Monterey Bay.
Actually, the ocean does have a voice, and has been speaking for
some time about the damage and destruction wrought by our extractive energy
practices and climate chaos. Our call is
to listen, to write, and to act.
____________
Bluetheology.com. I write
these ocean devotionals and pleas for action every Wednesday here and at www.bluetheologytideings.blogspot.com. I’m also going
to DC for the June 9 Ocean March, “The Ocean is Rising and So Are We.” Want to go with me?
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