The Biden administration proposed a recent marine sanctuary off the coast of Recent York on Wednesday and said it could move to ban the sale of single-use plastics from all public lands over the subsequent decade.
The White House said the measures, a slate of environmental moves announced on World Oceans Day, would help “conserve and restore the health and productivity of the ocean for the advantage of all Americans.”
The proposed national marine sanctuary would encompass the Hudson Canyon, a deep underwater valley that lies about 100 miles off the coast of Recent York and Recent Jersey. The canyon, certainly one of the most important on this planet, is as much as 2.5 miles deep in parts and provides habitat for sperm whales, sea turtles, octopuses and deep sea corals.
A pair of mating deep-sea red crabs rests on a ledge of a canyon wall in Hudson Canyon off the coast of Recent York and Recent Jersey.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said it could begin a public comment period on the matter and can then consider what it could be called and what areas it could encompass. The complete process, which might also include an environmental impact evaluation and management plan, could take greater than a yr, The Washington Post reported.
“A sanctuary near probably the most densely populated areas of the Northeast U.S. would connect diverse communities across the region to the ocean and the canyon in recent and other ways,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement. “As someone who grew up in Recent York City and went on to a profession in ocean science, I’m enthusiastic about how this amazing underwater environment can encourage shared interest in conserving our ocean.”
Announcing: Hudson Canyon National Marine Sanctuary Designation
You’re invited to take part in step one in the method to potentially designate a recent national marine sanctuary off the coast of Recent York and Recent Jersey, often known as Hudson Canyon.https://t.co/YvH6wY053q pic.twitter.com/KRWNOEZ4Ci
— Sanctuaries (NOAA) (@sanctuaries) June 8, 2022
The Interior Department also said Wednesday it could move to phase out the sale of single-use plastics on public lands by 2032, which incorporates national parks. The agency noted that plastic pollution stays a significant problem on public lands, adding that lower than 10% of the plastic ever produced has been recycled.
“The Interior Department has an obligation to play a number one role in reducing the impact of plastic waste on our ecosystems and our climate,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Because the steward of the nation’s public lands, including national parks and national wildlife refuges, and because the agency chargeable for the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats, we’re uniquely positioned to do higher for our Earth.”
The move was hailed by environmental groups.
An octopus, sea star, bivalves and dozens of cup coral share an overhang in an area adjoining to the Hudson Canyon off the coast of Recent York and Recent Jersey. They’re typical of the marine life on this area.
“Our national parks, by definition, are protected areas — ones that Americans have loved for his or her natural beauty and history for over a century — and yet we’ve did not protect them from plastic for much too long,” Christy Leavitt, the plastics campaign director for Oceana, a nonprofit ocean conservation group, said in a press release. “The Department of Interior’s single-use plastic ban will curb thousands and thousands of kilos of unnecessary disposable plastic in our national parks and other public lands, where it will probably find yourself polluting these special areas.”
President Joe Biden campaigned on goals of protecting 30% of America’s lands and waters by 2030, often known as the “30 by 30” initiative. Those efforts included rolling back former President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle protections for several national monuments, but Biden has also pledged to determine recent protected sites to deal with climate change and safeguard vital ecological zones.
