Wednesday, March 7, 2018

It's Time, Again, To Say No


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:
-Read the proposal and comment directly: https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=BOEM-2017-0074-0001
-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.
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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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