The publication is reproduced in full below:
IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 1447--COAST RESEARCH ACT OF 2021 AND H.R. 2533--NEAR
ACT OF 2021
______
HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON
of texas
in the house of representatives
Monday, May 17, 2021
Ms. JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1447, the Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats, or COAST, Research Act of 2021. I also rise in support of H.R. 2533, the National Estuaries and Acidification Resarch, or NEAR, Act of 2021.
These two bipartisan bills supporting ocean acidification research passed the House under suspension last Congress. The oceans have absorbed excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. The resulting rise in ocean acidity levels has been shown to cause harm to marine life. Organisms like oysters, clams, and corals have difficulty building their shells and skeletons in more acidic environments. Higher acidity also alters the behavior of some fish. Ocean acidification threatens the vitality of our coastal economies. We need to get ahead of the problem of ocean acidification before it causes even greater economic harm.
Congresswoman Bonamici's COAST Research Act reauthorizes and updates the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act. The bill supports the ocean acidification program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. The bill has several updates to improve the text from last Congress, with bipartisan agreement.
This year marks 10 years of ocean acidification research at NOAA. This next decade will be crucial for further understanding the impacts of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems and coastal communities. We must pass this crucial legislation to help support federal efforts to inform mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Congressman Posey's NEAR Act would require a study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This study would examine the impact of ocean acidification and other stressors in estuarine environments.
I thank Congresswoman Bonamici for her leadership on this issue and Congressman Posey for his bill. I thank Ranking Member Lucas and our staffs for working together to prepare these bills for Floor passage. Finally, I thank the numerous experts who helped inform the development of both bills.
I urge my colleagues to swiftly pass these two bipartisan bills through the House. I look forward to working with the Senate to pass strong ocean acidification legislation into law.
I also want to include in the Record several letters of support we have received for H.R. 1447 from outside groups.
Ocean Conservancy,
Washington, DC, May 17, 2021.Hon. Suzanne Bonamici,House of Representatives,Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Bonamici: On behalf of Ocean Conservancy, I am writing to express our strong support for H.R. 1447, the Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats (COAST) Research Act of 2021, and to urge your colleagues to vote to pass the legislation when it is considered on the House Floor. Americans depend on a healthy ocean, and ocean acidification threatens millions of jobs and livelihoods, cultures, and ways of life, from the Pacific Northwest's shellfish industry to Florida's coral reef tourism. The COAST Research Act will strengthen our nation's investments in ocean and coastal acidification, and we encourage Members of Congress to stand with coastal communities, businesses, and our marine environment by passing this important legislation.
From coast to coast, ocean acidification is having a broad range of impacts on the health of our ocean and coastal communities. Economically and ecologically important regional species are suffering. Ocean acidification has attributed to dissolving the shells of young Dungeness crab, an economically valuable fishery in the Pacific Northwest, with additional research suggesting that acidification also impacts the crab's ability to navigate their environment. Corals, such as the corals off the coast of Florida, grow more slowly under acidification and are less likely to recover from breakage or loss. However, ocean acidification is not the only stressor facing our ocean, and the combination of impacts can be more detrimental to our marine environment. Ocean acidification, when combined with increased ocean temperatures for example, have shown the ability to impact the reproductive success of Pacific herring, more than either change alone.
Since the first detrimental impacts of ocean acidification in the Pacific Northwest in the mid-2000s, when acidification caused widespread larval shellfish death in the region, researchers and coastal industries have faced the reality of an increasingly acidic ocean head-on. Oregon State University researchers studying Netarts Bay, the initial hotspot for documented ocean acidification impacts on the Pacific oyster, have uncovered the complex interactions among local circulation and biological activity, which is now informing local shellfish farmers of when to begin particular activities. From the Atlantic to the Pacific, ocean and coastal acidification has had extensive biological and socioeconomic impacts and research is accelerating to find ways to offset those harms.
In 2009, Congress recognized the urgent need for federal investments in ocean acidification research and monitoring, and subsequently passed the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring (FOARAM) Act of 2009. FOARAM established the federal government's work on ocean acidification by creating the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program and an interagency working group on ocean acidification. Much of our knowledge and understanding of ocean acidification that has emerged in the last decade can be credited to the federal funding authorized by FOARAM. The law's authorization, however, expired in 2012, and there are changes that can be made to further improve our ability to understand acidification in the open ocean as well as in the coastal zone.
As the ocean continues to absorb carbon dioxide and the ocean continues to acidify, we must take action to protect our communities and wildlife from the impacts of acidification. The COAST Research Act will help our nation and coastal communities better prepare for the effects from ocean and coastal acidification, strengthen investments in research and monitoring, increase our understanding of the impacts acidification has on our communities and bring together ocean stakeholders to guide research and monitoring. Thank you for your leadership on this issue, and we look forward to working with you to craft solutions for our changing ocean environment.
Sincerely,
Reggie Paros,
Director, Government Relations,
Ocean Conservancy.
____
Consortium for Ocean Leadership,
Washington, DC, May 17, 2021.Hon. Suzanne Bonamici,Washington, DC.
Dear Congresswoman Bonamici: On behalf of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership (COL), which represents our nation's leading ocean science, research, and technology organizations from academia, industry, and the larger nonprofit sector (to include aquariums, philanthropy, and associations), I am writing to express support for the Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats (COAST) Research Act of 2021 (H.R. 1447). COL applauds the COAST Research Act in its mission to strengthen existing ocean acidification initiatives and to introduce new strategies to better understand and manage this environmental stressor.
Ocean acidification, which occurs as the ocean absorbs higher concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, threatens the health of the entire ocean. As corals, shellfish, and many types of plankton struggle to create and maintain their shells or exoskeletons in more acidic waters, ocean food webs are disrupted. This, in turn, threatens the crucial balance in many ecosystems, as well as our own security and prosperity, jeopardizing the stability of those whose livelihoods depend on a healthy ocean. Like many environmental challenges of our time, vulnerable communities who rely on shellfish and healthy coastal ecosystems for food, employment, and commerce with few alternatives will feel the negative impacts of ocean acidification most acutely. Combatting the causes and mitigating the effects of ocean acidification requires sustained congressional support and interagency collaboration, as well as engagement by stakeholders in the private sector, academia, philanthropy, and beyond. I strongly commend the COAST Research Act's commitment to advancing ocean acidification research and monitoring efforts, as well as promoting cooperation among stakeholder groups.
I offer my sincere thanks to you, Congresswoman Bonamici, for your efforts to help us better understand this urgent threat and to improve overall ocean health by strengthening federal investments in the research and increasing monitoring of changing ocean conditions. Our lives and our future may well depend on it.
Respectfully,Jonathan W. White, RADM (Ret.), USN,
President and CEO, Consortium for Ocean Leadership.
____
EARTHJUSTICE,
May 17, 2021.Re Earthjustice supports the H.R. 1447, the Coastal and Ocean
Acidification Stressors and Threats Research Act of 2021.
Hon. Suzanne Bonamici,House of Representatives,Washington, DC.
Dear Congresswoman Bonamici: Thank you for your leadership in addressing one of the greatest threats facing our oceans. Earthjustice strongly supports the Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats (COAST) Act of 2021 (H.R. 1447). Ocean acidification is a growing global phenomenon harming our coastal communities, ecosystems, and economies, and this proposed legislation would strengthen our ability to combat this threat with the urgency and resources needed.
Ocean acidification erodes the very foundations of our ocean ecosystems, as acidic waters imperil everything from cod larvae and lobsters to plankton and corals. The ocean absorbs 30% of the carbon dioxide that we release into the atmosphere, and acidification from excess carbon sets of a destructive chain reaction whereby the loss of tiny snails imperils species of all sizes that prey on them, such as killer whales. We have also seen the damage that acidification can wreak on coastal economies, such as our Pacific Northwest shellfish farms, We need immediate action to halt plunging pH levels and promote resilience in the face of changing temperatures.
The COAST Research Act jumpstarts ocean recovery by updating the Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring Act (FOARAM) to address the full scope of acidification's effects. Increasing funding for FOARAM and expanding the definition of ocean acidification ensures our efforts are informed by the best available science we have. Incorporating data on the socioeconomic and regional impacts of acidification ensures that our response to the problem is both comprehensive and practical. Establishing an advisory board that represents and coordinates the diverse stakeholders impacted by acidification ensures that interests at every level--industry, recreation, and conservation--are considered in federal actions against ocean acidification.
Bipartisan support for the COAST Research Act speaks to the seriousness of the problem and the efficiency of this bill's proposed solutions. Neither Democrats nor Republicans are willing to watch our blue economy dissolve in increasingly acidic waters. Both parties support action to stabilize and strengthen our ocean ecosystems. This bill provides the funding and the strategy to do just that.
We greatly appreciate your leadership on this important issue and implore Congress to timely pass it.
Sincerely,
Danny Folds,
Associate Legislative Counsel, Earthjustice.
____
Wild Salmon Center,
February 22, 2021.Hon. Suzanne Bonamici,House of Representatives,Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Bonamici: From coast to coast, ocean acidification is having a broad range of impacts on the health of our ocean and coastal communities. Coastal industries are continuing to face the reality of an increasingly acidic ocean. In 2017, researchers at Oregon State University recorded some of the highest levels of ocean acidification in the world off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Additionally, 63% of test sites on the west coast experienced levels of acidification known to cause commercial oyster production failures.
Our Pacific Northwest economies, our recreational and commercial fishing, and shellfish industry as well as our great northwest tourism economy--all depend on a healthy ocean. And because we are already seeing the effects of ocean acidification, we support your efforts and we support H.R. 1237, the Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats (COAST) Research Act.
Much of our knowledge and understanding of ocean acidification that has emerged in the last decade can be credited to the federal funding authorized by Federal Ocean Acidification Research and Monitoring (FOARAM) Act of 2009. FOARAM established the federal government's work on ocean acidification by creating the NOAA Ocean Acidification Program and an interagency working group on ocean acidification. FOARAM's authorization expired in 2012. The COAST Research Act amends FOARAM to further improve our ability to understand acidification in the open ocean as well as in the coastal zone.
We support the COAST Research Act and believe it will help our coastal communities better prepare for the effects from ocean and coastal acidification. Thank you for your leadership to strengthen the nation's focus and investment in oceans and coastal acidification.
Sincerely,
Sara LaBorde,Executive Vice President, Wild Salmon Center.
____
IOOS Association,
May 17, 2021.Hon. Suzanne Bonamici,House of Representatives,Washington, DC.
Dear Congresswoman Bonamici: On behalf of the Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Association and its national network of eleven coastal observing systems, I write to support the Coastal and Ocean Acidification Stressors and Threats (COAST) Research Act.
NOAA's Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) links together Federal agencies and eleven Regional Associations
(RAs) to design and to operate regional observing systems to provide timely and reliable data and information on our oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. Coastal acidification is becoming an even more pressing concern for many of our stakeholders and users, such as shellfish growers, shellfish harvesters, fishermen, resource managers, and coastal communities.
The impacts of coastal acidification vary, and each system must be tailored to the unique situation of the region. The IOOS RAs work closely with NOAA's Ocean Acidification Program to understand the regional context, to deploy and operate sensors, support the data that can detect and monitor acidification to support and improve warnings and alerts and to provide for the sharing and integration of data.
The COAST Research Act will enhance these and other efforts to understand, monitoring and manage the nation's ability to respond and adapt to ocean acidification. The Act does this be expanding the Advisory Board to include representatives of the variety of industries and stakeholder impacted by ocean acidification, expanding the strategic plan for research and monitoring, and expanding the role of the Federal agencies for addressing ocean acidification.
Sincerely,
Ella (Josie) Quintrell,Director.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 85
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
House Representatives' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
Alerts Sign-up