Month 4, Day 7: A Comment to the EPA

Carrying on with my letter theme from yesterday, allow me to encourage YOU to send a similar letter to the EPA supporting the expansion of the CWA to cover CO2 emissions. You can use the address I’ve included below, or just go to http://www.regulations.gov and follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.

This is important. Really important.

Clean Water Act Section 303(d):
Notice of Call for Public Comment on 303(d) Program and Ocean Acidification,
Environmental Protection Agency,
Mailcode: 4503–T,
1200 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460.

It is absolutely essential that the Environmental Protection Agency begin using the Clean Water Act to regulate carbon dioxide emissions. Oceanic acidification, caused by increasing quantities of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, is a clear and present danger to humanity’s prospects for survival over the centuries to come. Huge numbers of marine species depend on coral reefs for food and habitat, and the world’s corals are dying, killed by changes in the acidity of seawater as it absorbs more carbon dioxide. These changes have the potential to radically alter the food chain for much of life on earth; the lives of billions of people depend on the bounty of the sea. Even more crucial is the fact that many species of phytoplankton will be unable to survive the increased oceanic acidity — and we depend on these tiny creatures for the earth’s oxygen supply.

Food for a huge part of the world, and breathable air for us all — that’s what’s at stake in this decision. The EPA must take strong action on oceanic acidification, and expanding the use of the Clean Water Act to cover carbon dioxide emissions is an important component of a genuinely robust approach to the threats posed by global climate change.

Sincerely,

Warren Senders