In June 2019, Ocean Conservancy voiced strong support for Save Our Seas Act 2.0, introduced by Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to build on the first Save Our Seas Act with more specific interventions that can be implemented in the U.S. and abroad to address the scourge of ocean plastic. On September 25, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee each approved key portions of the bill. Kevin Allexon, Senior Manager of Government Relations at Ocean Conservancy, released the following statement:

“Save Our Seas Act 2.0 homes in on one of the many solutions we need to address the ocean plastic crisis: making sure every piece of plastic is collected and recycled or disposed of properly. In proposing badly needed improvements to both domestic and international waste management and recycling systems and prioritizing research initiatives to better understand the problem of ocean plastic and what interventions would be most effective, this bill is an important and necessary step in the journey toward a clean, healthy ocean free of plastic.

“We commend this bipartisan effort and are excited to see interest in the ocean plastic crisis growing among the public and in Congress. We believe future bills should and will address other critical solutions to the problem, such as reducing our reliance on single-use plastics, and look forward to working on those in the near future.”

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Kevin Allexon is available for interviews upon request.

About Ocean Conservancy:

Ocean Conservancy is working with you to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together, we create science-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. For more information, visit www.oceanconservancy.org, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

About Ocean Conservancy’s Trash Free Seas® Program:

Ocean Conservancy has led the fight for a clean, trash-free ocean since 1986, when the organization launched its first annual International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) on a beach in Texas. Since then, the ICC has expanded to over 150 countries and has mobilized millions of volunteers to remove more than 300 million pounds of trash from beaches and waterways around the globe, all the while logging each item and building the world’s largest database on marine debris.

Recognizing that cleanups alone will not solve the growing ocean plastic crisis, Ocean Conservancy has leveraged that data and invested in additional science to better understand the sources of ocean plastic. In 2012, Ocean Conservancy launched the Trash Free Seas Alliance®, uniting conservationists, scientists and members of the private sector to work together for pragmatic, impactful solutions to the problem, such as the launch of Circulate Capital and Urban Ocean. In 2019, Ocean Conservancy assumed leadership of the Global Ghost Gear Initiative to reduce the amount of lost and abandoned fishing gear entering the ocean and engage fishers on best practices. Learn more at www.oceanconservancy.org/trashfreeseas.