President Donald Trump has signed into law the Save Our Seas Act 2.0 (S. 1982), a comprehensive, bipartisan effort to address the challenge of plastic debris in the world’s oceans.
In addition to an important step forward in reducing marine plastic debris, Save Our Seas 2.0 is an example of what can be achieved when policymakers work across the partisan divide in an open and inclusive legislative process.
“The Senate sponsors of Save Our Seas 2.0, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Democrat Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, have demonstrated how Congress can advance real solutions to environmental challenges even in these polarized times,” said Robert Dillon of ConservAmerica, a nonprofit organization that advocates for market-based solutions to conservation, environmental, and energy challenges.
“Their success shows what can be achieved when you let the legislative process work. We hope that policymakers will continue to work together in the new Congress to find enduring solutions to climate change and other environmental challenges,” Dillon said.
The highly collaborative process that produced the bipartisan Save Our Seas 2.0 included hundreds of comments, edits, and other feedback from government agencies, industries, and nongovernmental organizations.
The House version of the legislation followed a similar collaborative path and was introduced by Democrat Rep. Suzanne Bonamici of Oregon and Republican Rep. Don Young of Alaska.
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AFP
