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Stop Mercury Pollution: Tell Congress to Support HR5580 to ban mercury at chlorine plants. This week, Representative Jan Schakowsky introduced The Missing Mercury in Manufacturing Monitoring and Mitigation Act, HR 5580, which would require chlorine companies to switch to mercury-free technology by 2012. Schakowsky and other Representatives are working to eliminate a major industrial source of mercury pollution. When released to the environment, mercury ends up in our oceans, contaminating seafood. Humans and other creatures exposed to high levels of mercury in fish can experience health effects, such as delayed neurological development in children.

Take Action: Close the Shark Fin Loophole!! On April 9, the Shark Conservation Act of 2008 was introduced, which would close the loophole revealed by the King Diamond II and remove the ratio of fins to carcass weight. In addition, the bill encourages international efforts to protect shark populations. This bill is a vital step in ensuring protection for global shark populations.
One person can make a difference. Please sign the Ocean Conservancy pledge to keep trash out of the oceans. Twenty-two years ago, a woman walking along a beach in Texas was appalled at the amount of trash she saw. She felt compelled to do something and organized a beach clean-up. In two hours, 2,800 people picked up 124 tons of trash. Since that first cleanup in 1986, over 6 million people have removed some 116 million pounds of trash through Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup
(ICC).
Pledge not to trash the Oceans! Right now, a mass of trash twice the size of Texas is floating in the Pacific Ocean. It has accumulated in an area known as the "North Pacific gyre" and it includes everything from tires to fishing nets, but the most common ingredient, by far, is plastic. The average American uses between 300 and 700 plastic bags every year. Those that end up in the ocean are often mistaken for food by hungry sea turtles. Plastics also absorb toxic chemicals, which can be dangerous to fish and other sea life that often swallow plastic pellets and other materials.
Act Now to Protect the Ocean from Global Climate Change. The ocean is the engine that drives our planet’s climate. It is our life support system, providing much of the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the resources we depend on for life every day. The ocean is essential for life. Unfortunately, the ocean will be the first ecosystem to suffer widespread effects of global climate change. Increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases pose major threats to our ocean as well as our atmosphere. Widespread effects brought on by higher air and water temperatures include loss of sea ice, sea level rise, extreme weather events, and harmful changes to marine fish and wildlife populations. Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide will lead to acidification of ocean water, threatening many ocean organisms, particularly corals and important species at the base of the ocean food web.