STATEMENT: When Climate Protections Are Weakened, the Ocean Pays the Price

WASHINGTON – Today the Trump Administration repealed the endangerment finding, which concluded greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare and has been in place for more than 15 years. This ruling was used to create greenhouse gas pollution limits for cars, power plants, and more. Ocean Conservancy’s Vice President of Climate Fatima Candace Vahlsing released the following statement:

“Eliminating the Endangerment Finding is like removing the batteries from a smoke alarm—it won’t stop the fire; it will only leave us more vulnerable. Science-based climate protections safeguard public health, strengthen our economy, and ensure a healthy ocean and a thriving planet, forever and for everyone.

“Although this proposal targets vehicle standards, its impact extends far beyond our roads. By removing the foundation for regulating climate pollution, it also threatens our ocean by undermining progress in sectors like maritime shipping, a major and growing source of emissions that affects public health, global supply chains, and coastal livelihoods and economies. This decision creates regulatory uncertainty for America’s ocean economy, which generates more than $500 billion annually. 

“Our ocean is both a life raft from and a victim of the climate crisis. By absorbing over 90 percent of excess heat caused by greenhouse gas emissions and one-third of the carbon dioxide we produce, the ocean protects us from the worst impacts of climate change. But that protection comes at a steep cost, as warming waters devastate marine life and supercharge storms and hurricanes.”