Over the past year, the movement to ban plastic straws has seen tremendous success. Major companies including Starbucks have decided to eliminate them in their stores, and some metropolitan areas have passed citywide bans. This consumer and environmental trend has been an encouraging example of collective action on an economy-wide scale and has no doubt helped keep plastic out of our oceans and out of marine life. But ultimately, these actions are small steps toward solving a massive problem. To truly save the ocean, we must take serious action to halt climate change on a global scale — and soon.
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| A paddle boarder gets in some exercise in the early morning off the beach at the Isle of Palms, S.C. |
Our oceans are critical to every part of our lives — they feed us, transport us, secure our borders, employ us, give us oxygen and inspire us — but week after week, headlines reflect gloom and doom. Coral reefs around the world are dying; rising seas are flooding coastal communities and threatening to overwhelm some of the world’s busiest airports; fishermen from New England to Alaska are hauling in empty nets; and intensifying storms threaten not just our coastlines but inland communities as well. Climate change is a major contributor to all these problems, and yet the ocean is far too often left out of conversations about climate solutions.
Read the story from The Washington Post by Joe Podesta - “The oceans are in danger. We need to do more than ban plastic straws.”
