The following is a statement from Janis Searles Jones, CEO of Ocean Conservancy, on the Biden-Harris administration’s Day One Executive Order:

“Today, President Biden sent a crystal-clear message on climate change: the Biden-Harris administration is turning their promises into bold action. Just a few hours into the new administration, Biden is taking necessary aggressive steps to protect all Americans from the clear and present danger that climate change represents. And for our ocean and all the communities that depend on it, these actions come not a minute too soon. The science clearly tells us – we don’t have a moment to waste when it comes to tackling the climate crisis.

The administration is prioritizing climate action alongside other urgent crises we face, including racial injustice and the economic and human toll of the pandemic. After four years of an egregiously anti-ocean and anti-climate administration, which acted to put us on a path towards an uninhabitable planet, this Executive Order is a desperately-needed step in the right direction. The President is speaking with his actions, and today he declared that climate change is a crisis requiring immediate and aggressive solutions.

The Biden-Harris team is hitting the ground running, rejoining the Paris Agreement and revoking the permits for the Keystone XL pipeline, alongside a host of other actions. All are critical in the fight to address climate change – the single biggest threat to our ocean.  Importantly, the Administration also recognizes the huge opportunities we have to accomplish meaningful climate action while simultaneously addressing the racial inequity and economic hardship that plagues our nation. We are excited that climate action is moving forward, and we’re ready to help the Biden-Harris administration put ocean-climate solutions to work.”

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Notes to Editors:

The Executive Orders include the following:

• Rejoining the Paris Agreement and reestablishing U.S. global climate leadership;
• Reinstating the Northern Bering Sea Climate Resilience Area;
• Restoring the withdrawal of certain offshore areas in Arctic waters and the Bering Sea from oil and gas drilling;
• Revoking the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline;
• Pausing oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge;
• Directing agencies to consider the social cost of carbon pollution in their decision-making;
• Launching a review of the rollbacks and diminished protections of our country’s special places, including Marine National Monuments; and
• Initiating a review of the previous administration’s assault on environmental protections; and explore strengthening standards that tackle methane pollution, greenhouse gas pollution from vehicles, and building and appliance efficiency.