How’s the Biden administration doing on its ocean climate action plan?
Elle Bent recently contributed to a report focused on just that question, which also outlined recommended next steps.
“I had a front-row seat to what’s happening right now,” said Bent, a 2024 graduate of the environmental policy and management program. “What has been done has been historic. No other presidential administration has had an ocean climate plan. That alone is a piece of history.”
Bent started working on the project in fall 2023, interviewing experts and conducting research under the direction of Jason Scorse, associate professor and director of the Center for the Blue Economy (CBE).
The latest progress report builds on years of coalition work by the CBE to get the federal government to prioritize oceans in plans to address climate change. The CBE published its Ocean Climate Action Plan in 2020 and, in 2022, the Biden administration adopted the first federal ocean climate action plan. The CBE has seen many of their recommendations become policy, publishing a progress update in 2023, followed by the latest report.
No other presidential administration has had an ocean climate plan. That alone is a piece of history.
The report analyzed progress in 10 key areas. Bent focused on four: promote green shipping and ports; advance marine protected areas; expand responsibly sited offshore wind and phase out offshore drilling; and protect blue carbon, which are aquatic ecosystems like coastal marshes, mangroves, and coral and oyster reefs.
Sometimes Bent took the lead on drafting a chapter, using her research and conversations with climate leaders and drawing on what she was learning in her program.
“Having an understanding of all the threats our ocean is facing and how these threats are intertwined with our communities was really helpful going into this,” Bent said. “In every class I took I learned about all of these issues.”
That prepared Bent to go into conversations with experts with strong and well-informed questions.
“I felt I could meet the expert where they were at and learn from them,” Bent said.
For other chapters, she collaborated with members of the various partner organizations involved in the report.
“It’s given me an edge most grad students don’t have,” she said. “It was definitely incredible for my own professional development and knowledge of the field. I got to talk to really interesting individuals doing incredible work across all fields in ocean climate action. I’m still trying to figure out what my career goals are; where I‘m needed and how I could be involved. Being able to talk to all of these experts and work with all of these organizations gave me some really great insight.”
Read Turning the Tide: Biden Administration Leadership on Ocean Climate Action & Recommended Next Steps.
Master of Arts in Environmental Policy and Management
Center for the Blue Economy
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