Mid-Atlantic Governors Sign Agreement Safeguarding the Oceans

June 4, 2009

Some special, well-known guests visited BMCC on June 4th who shared one mission—to improve ocean health by forming a Governors Mid-Atlantic Council on Oceans. New York Governor David Paterson, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, actor and environmental activist Sam Waterston and Nancy H. Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, sat on a panel in BMCC’s Richard Harris Terrace to discuss the affect of climate change on the Atlantic Ocean.

Governors Paterson and Corzine, along with Delaware Governor Jack Markell, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley and Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine, are creating a structure for these 5 states to improve energy security and independence, making U.S. lands and oceans safer. They signed this agreement at BMCC, with the exception of Governor Kaine, who could not attend the event.

Also in attendance at the forum to protect the Atlantic Ocean were New York Secretary of State Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis.

Improving ocean life, together
According to Governor Paterson, the mission of these Governors is to come together and find ways to improve the health and wealth of the Atlantic Ocean. “We have to reduce mercury admissions into the ocean,” he said. “The less we pollute, the less we’ll have a continued rising of our oceans and how much they shrink our shores.”

According to Paterson, the Mid-Atlantic Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Conservation was formed mostly because the water near the Mid-Atlantic States is cooling and undergoing climate changes that affect sea life. “This really is the catalyst for other problems we have with pollution,” he said.

Governors have ‘aligned interests’
Governor Corzine said that he and Governor Paterson were committed to protecting the water of the NY/NJ Harbor, “with a strong eye for future generations.”

“We all have aligned interests and principles,” he said of the Governors who will make up the ocean protection committee. “For example, if there’s an oil spill off the coast of Virginia, it could impact—and reach—Delaware and New Jersey.”

Governor Corzine said that New Jersey has one of the best wind environments in the country, calling wind power, “a great future source of energy for the Mid-Atlantic.” More wind power means less energy that can negatively affect ocean life. According to Corzine, New Jersey “fully expects to have three thousand megawatts of windpower by 2020.”

Governor Corzine said that by signing the Mid-Atlantic Agreement, the Council is determined to that there will be a continued forum for environmental discussions, regardless of who controls the legislature. “We’re putting in place an advocacy group; a place for resolution,” he said. “We need to be advocates in that great city of Washington.”

From actor to ocean activist
Actor Sam Waterston was the keynote speaker for the event. An environmental advocate and board member for Oceana, an ocean conservation group based in Washington D.C., with an office in Manhattan, Waterston has witnessed firsthand the changes that communities and fishermen face.

An advocate for policy change, with a mission to restore the world’s oceans, Waterston told the audience that acidification is to blame for the decreased numbers of sea coral, terrapods (sea snails) and changing water temperatures. According to Waterston, man-made carbon dioxide deposited into the sea has increased every year for the past few years by approximately three percent. He said in a few years, “oceans will no longer be a hospitable place for sea life. It’s already happening.”

Waterston said the carbon in the sea is a, “direct result of our thirst for energy.”

“Off shore wind energy is a technology ready to work right now,” he said. “The problem is not beyond us. We made it; we can undo it.”

A ‘great day for the oceans’
The Mid-Atlantic Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Conservation will focus on the rising tide of new challenges, protecting ocean ecosystems, water quality, energy, ocean habitats and more. After the agreement was signed by Governors Corzine and Paterson, Waterston said, “Today is a great day for the oceans.”

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