A report by Ocean Conservancy has concluded that a second term by Republican Donald Trump as president of the United States poses serious threats to the world’s oceans.
“The Four Big Ocean Fights of the Next Four Years,” based on analysis of Trump’s policy plans, statements and previous actions, identifies the most significant ocean policy challenges under a Trump administration as:
- Fighting for a clean ocean energy future;
- Safeguarding ocean wildlife and fisheries;
- Defending the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and standing up for science; and
- Saving special ocean places.
“We’ve seen this before, and we know what to expect: Trump’s agenda threatens to wreak havoc on our ocean,” said Ocean Conservancy’s Vice President of External Affairs Jeff Watters. “We know that he wants to expand offshore drilling and hamstring clean ocean energy development; weaken or repeal protections against overfishing and even the Endangered Species Act; dismantle NOAA; and reverse course on marine protected areas. If he’s successful, this could take us back decades, right as Americans and the world are experiencing, in real time, historic and devastating impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.”
On the transition from fossil fuels to clean ocean-based energy, the report notes: “President Trump has repeatedly called for ramping up offshore oil and gas drilling, while also vilifying offshore wind.”
In January 2018, for example, Trump’s Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced a proposal to open nearly all U.S. waters to offshore drilling, including in the Arctic. In his second term, Trump has vowed to pick up right where he left off by aggressively encouraging fossil fuel development.
“As soon as he takes office, we expect President Trump to try to roll back protections that safeguard our ocean from drilling and push for an aggressive expansion of offshore oil and gas lease sales,” said Senior Director of Ocean Conservancy’s Arctic Program Andrew Hartsig. “President Trump and his allies will do everything in their power to make it easier for oil companies to pursue dirty and dangerous drilling in our ocean, with little regard for the consequences on marine animals, people, or the global climate.”
The last Trump administration featured attacks on some of the foundational legislation that protects marine wildlife: the Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. On fisheries, examples of past actions include the Trump Administration’s 2018 move allowing recreational fishers to bypass science-based catch limits in several U.S. fisheries, as well as a 2020 decision to lift commercial fishing restrictions in the Atlantic’s only marine protected area. And on the 2024 campaign trail, Trump has promised to continue such rollbacks.
“Our fisheries regulations – the laws and rules that keep fresh, healthy seafood on Americans’ dining room tables – have never been more vulnerable, thanks to recent Supreme Court rulings overturning decades-old legal precedents,” said Director of Ocean Conservancy’s Fish Conservation Program Meredith Moore. “With climate change overheating our oceans and driving fish populations to collapse, marine ecosystems and the communities that rely on them for food, employment, culture and recreation cannot afford a return to reckless overfishing.”
Supporters of and advisors to the president have called for the elimination of NOAA, an agency established in 1970 that supplies one-of-its-kind, life-saving data on a range of issues, including data on ocean currents, winds, and other elements that determine the frequency and severity of storms. Trump proposed billions in cuts to the agency in 2018, cuts which Ocean Conservancy and other organizations effectively campaigned against.
“We cannot meet the environmental challenges of our time without accurate and publicly accessible data, and that’s exactly what NOAA provides,” said Ocean Conservancy’s Chief Scientist George Leonard. “Without this information and a strong and robust NOAA, Americans will be flying blind into a future of very real threats to our ocean and the people who depend on it.”
Finally, the first Trump administration had pursued offshore drilling in marine protected areas, including reversing protections for an ecologically sensitive area in the Arctic.
“It will be a tough road ahead, but we’re not backing down. We will identify the ocean champions in the upcoming congress who will help us protect the health of the ocean. We will bring public attention to damaging policies that would otherwise take place far from the public’s eye. And we welcome our supporters, followers, and members to join us in the fight for a healthy ocean together,” Watters said.
Ocean Conservancy envisions a healthier ocean, protected by a more just world. Ocean Conservancy works to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together with partners, the organization creates evidence-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. Ocean Conversancy is based in Washington, D.C.
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Rebecca Barnabi
