Draft GPUS Platform Amendment Ocean Protection
Section title: Ocean Protection
Section subtitle: Restoring our oceans
Our position: Our oceans, with their enormous diversity of life and function, are essential to life on Earth and must be preserved.
Our oceans are threatened by climate change, pollution, whaling, over fishing, factory fishing, bottom trawling, bycatch, pirate fishing and fish farming. Simple, strong policy changes can rejuvenate the health of our oceans and planet.
Green Solutions
1. Protect 40% of the world's oceans as marine reserves, especially near shore coastal habitats.
2. Ban offshore oil drilling, because of the potential for destruction of habitat and wildlife, as well as our need to reduce oil dependency.
3. Ban the siting of liquified natural gas facilities off the U.S. coast.
4. Phase out use of once through cooling (currently used by power plants) in near coastal waters.
5. Full treatment of waste effluent before release.
6. Ban ocean transportation of nuclear and toxic wastes.
7. Ban sonar testing in the oceans.
8. Support the ban on international commercial whaling as well as other international efforts to protect endangered marine species.
9. Ban drift-net fishing and long-line fishing and phase out factory trawling.
10. Map undersea toxic dump sites, and investigate methods of rendering them harmless.
11. Ban the importation of fish and fish products caught by drift-nets and other illegal means.
12. Ban importation of coral products and the destruction of breakwaters.
13. Support the Law of the Sea Treaty that establishes the global sharing of ocean resources.
2004 OCEAN PROTECTION SECTION
Our oceans, with their enormous diversity of life and function, are essential to life on Earth and must be preserved.
Today, the oceans are threatened by both governments and businesses who exploit ocean resources without considering the consequences. Exploitation of undersea mineral wealth is often done without regard for the environmental damage to land and sea. Greed and indiscriminate harvesting techniques lead to needless devastation of marine species.
Ocean vessels contaminate the sea through leaks large and small, and by dumping their refuse with impunity. Whole oceans are threatened with radioactive contamination by ships transporting weapons-grade plutonium, and by oceanic testing of nuclear weapons. The oceans are further contaminated by heavily polluted streams and rivers, and by undersea toxic dump sites with secret contents.
We favor accelerating research on the nature of the oceans that cover most of our planet. It is essential that we learn as much as possible about the effects of global warming, destruction of coral reefs, and depletion of fish populations upon the oceans.
The Green Party supports the following ocean protection measures:
1. Urge the U.S. government to sign the Laws of the Sea Treaty that establishes the global sharing of ocean resources.
2. Support the National Oceans Protection Act which bans offshore drilling to a distance of 50 to 175 miles from U.S. shores.
3. Establish environmental standards for ocean-going vessels.
4. Ban ocean transportation of nuclear and toxic wastes.
5. Map undersea toxic dump sites and, where possible, recover and treat the toxic wastes.
6. Ban drift-net fishing and long-line fishing, practices that indiscriminately kills marine mammals and other species not intended for the catch. Ban importing of fish and fish products from countries that use drift-nets.
7. Legislate phasing out U.S. factory trawlers while promoting sustainable, community-based fishing.
8. Ban importation of coral products and the destruction of breakwaters that are necessary to protect dying reefs.
9. Maintain the ban on international whale trade, which was debated at the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species.
