From Ocean Gardens to the Ocean Climate Action Summit--Many Paths to a Blue New Deal
In this article by Maanvi Singh published in the HuffPost on 10/21/19, we see how many good ideas are coming together to create a “Blue New Deal.” The Center for the Blue Economy and Blue Frontier are doing our part—gathering California consensus on a Blue New Deal before going national.
Maanvi tells the story of Bren Smith, a fisherman since the age of 14. He went from commercial fishing to oyster farming to advocating for ‘ocean gardens’ that replenish fish stocks and sequester carbon. Smith now runs the nonprofit GreenWave, which helps fishers across the country and around the world plan their own ocean gardens. He recounts his meandering journey from trawl fisherman to ocean entrepreneur in his 2019 book, “Eat Like a Fish.”
Ocean farms are “just one little idea,” Smith said. “My thought is: Let’s bundle together and support a thousand climate solutions because they’re out there.”
Maanvi writes: The Blue New Deal that Smith helped write is one of several similar efforts to articulate what such a proposal could include. Others have suggested investing in offshore wind farms and tidal energy, setting higher air quality standards for ships, and promoting hybrid and hydrogen-fueled vessels.
The activist group Blue Frontier has gone a step further to also propose flood insurance reform and programs to help people who live in flood-prone areas relocate to higher ground. More than 40% of Americans live along or near the coast, and coastal communities generate nearly half of the United States’ GDP ― about $8 trillion.
“When the best available science is giving us the worst possible scenarios for the ocean, we just have to do something,” said Blue Frontier’s founder, David Helvarg.
Blue Frontier and the Center for the Blue Economy have taken that sentiment to heart, and are leading the effort to coalesce consensus with thought leaders from business, government, and academia around specific components of a Blue New Deal. On Friday, Oct.18th, the Ocean Climate Action Summit convened, with an aim to finalize a draft document to take to east coast and Washington D.C. leaders by January of 2020. The time to act truly is now.
For More Information
Read the full Article: This Fisherman Wants Us To Use The Oceans To Fight Climate Change
Read the Center for the Blue Economy and Blue Frontiers’ Ocean Climate Action Plan—a.k.a. the Blue New Deal.