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“The unprecedented scale of the climate crisis requires that we act immediately, and our ocean and coastal ecosystems can be part of the solution,” Bonamici said. “Blue carbon refers to the powerful ability of coastal ecosystems to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for centuries to millennia in plants and soil.

Florida Politics

Florida Republicans Back the Blue Carbon For Our Planet Act on Capitol Hill

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“The unprecedented scale of the climate crisis requires that we act immediately, and our ocean and coastal ecosystems can be part of the solution,” Bonamici said. “Blue carbon refers to the powerful ability of coastal ecosystems to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for centuries to millennia in plants and soil.

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Two Florida congressmen are championing the “Blue Carbon For Our Planet Act” on Capitol Hill.

The bill from U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Oreg., would create an Interagency Working Group on Coastal Blue Carbon. Two Republicans from the Sunshine State–U.S. Reps. Brian Mast and Bill Posey–are cosponsoring the bill.

“The unprecedented scale of the climate crisis requires that we act immediately, and our ocean and coastal ecosystems can be part of the solution,” Bonamici said. “Blue carbon refers to the powerful ability of coastal ecosystems to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for centuries to millennia in plants and soil. Despite their value, coastal blue carbon ecosystems are disappearing at an unsustainable rate. The bipartisan Blue Carbon for Our Planet Act will strengthen blue carbon research and support the conservation and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems so we can maximize this effective carbon sequestration tool in our fight against the climate crisis.”

Mast’s office offered some of the reasons why he was backing the bill.

“The legislation is designed to capture the power of our ocean and estuaries to protect coastal blue carbon ecosystems like the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon,” Mast’s office noted. “Healthy blue carbon ecosystems, such as mangroves, tidal marshes, seagrasses and kelp forests, can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it for centuries in stems, branches, leaves, roots and soils. According to the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy, the protection and restoration of blue carbon ecosystems could prevent approximately one gigaton of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere by 2050. The Blue Carbon for Our Planet Act would create a national map of coastal blue carbon ecosystems and their sequestration potential, study the effects of environmental stressors on rates of carbon sequestration, improve protections for existing coastal blue carbon ecosystems and restore degraded ecosystems.”

Mast weighed in on Monday on why he was backing the bill.

“Blue carbon ecosystems like those all along Florida’s coastlines serve a critical purpose providing habitats for fish and oysters, protecting our shorelines and improving water quality,”  Mast said. “But if we continue down the current path of mistreating our coastal ecosystems and poisoning our waterways, we are going to exponentially increase the damage and risks for future generations.  Making sure we protect and restore these ecosystems is a must.”

The bill was sent to the U.S. House Natural Resources; Science, Space, and Technology; and the House Administration Committees on Monday. So far, there is no counterpart over in the U.S. Senate.

 

Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.

 

Author

  • Originally from Jacksonville, Kevin Derby is a contributing writer for Florida Daily and covers politics across Florida.

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. Denise Evans Glass

    January 16, 2020, 10:39 am at 10:39 am

    I am in agreement with your effort.

  2. Mac Stuckey

    January 16, 2020, 12:08 pm at 12:08 pm

    Sounds good Brian. If you could get the Republican party to realize that clean air and clean water are essential to good business, especially in Florida, and are therefore basic conservative values and, if the Republicans would actually create a viable health care plan, the Democrat party would have no issues whatsoever to sustain them. We can be good for business, and also good for the environment and medical care at the same time. People can pay what they can afford for dependable medical care. The Republicans need to fix their idiotic stance that Obamacare is the problem and health care was fine before that. Republicans need to face reality on that issue and come up with something more sustainable than medicaid and private insurance at market rates. I primarily care about fixing our River, but we need to convince your fellow Republicans that fighting for clean drinking water and recreational water is a conservative issue; not a liberal wacko issue. Thanks for all you are doing

  3. martha

    January 16, 2020, 12:20 pm at 12:20 pm

    This is really great and glad to see the R working with D. You do such good work

  4. Victor Remick

    January 16, 2020, 12:22 pm at 12:22 pm

    Love the way you keep an eye on our water way we sure do need some major help

  5. Roger Dionne

    January 16, 2020, 2:32 pm at 2:32 pm

    Brian,
    Thank you for your stance on cleaning up our waterways. Storing more water in lakes or compounds won’t do much until the contaminates are removed from the source water, be it farm runoff or untreated sewage from septic systems.

  6. Anna Bergalis

    January 17, 2020, 8:38 pm at 8:38 pm

    Go Brian go

  7. Bill zaring

    January 18, 2020, 11:54 am at 11:54 am

    Couldn’t agree with you more.Well spoken.

  8. Daniel

    August 5, 2020, 1:32 pm at 1:32 pm

    Great to see bi-partisan support for an initiative to keep mitigate climate change and reduce the effects of storms. Healthier wetlands and estuaries will also help clean up the water, and more plants create great habitat for wildlife and improved fishing.

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