Elizabeth Warren’s Blue New Deal
By Johnny Bowman, Julian Brave NoiseCat and Sean McElwee
Today, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts released a plan recognizing the imperative to restore marine habitats, expand ocean-based jobs and protect coastal communities through a Blue New Deal. We must admit: we are biased. At least some of the impetus for the plan came from a question posed to the Senator by Bren Smith, an ocean farmer and co-author of a Data for Progress brief on Seafood, Blue Jobs and the Green New Deal, at the CNN town hall on the climate crisis in September. Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a co-author of the same brief and noted ocean policy expert, also advised the Warren campaign on this plan. It’s exciting to see our friends doing big things.
But the real need for the plan is, of course, the climate crisis. Oceans are one of our greatest resources and wonders. They have absorbed around 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions to date and as much as 90 percent of warming. Each new study seems to deliver fresh, devastating data on the state of our seas. Coastal communities are home to about 40 percent of United States residents. And in 2016, commercial and recreational saltwater fishing generated more than $212 billion in sales and contributed $100 billion to the country’s gross domestic product.
Climate change poses an existential threat to oceans and the people who depend upon them. Fishing communities across the country are already seeing depleted stocks due to warming waters and overfishing. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that by midcentury coral reefs will likely be an artifact of the past. Oceans are rising, warming, growing increasingly acidic and losing life. Addressing the climate crisis on land and at sea should be a top priority for the next president.
Below are a few highlights from Data for Progress--and Senator Warren--about how to take on the climate crisis in our oceans through a Blue New Deal. We also highlight key findings from Data for Progress polling.
Data for Progress: (Checkmarks indicate elements adopted in Senator Warren’s plan.)
Catalyze restorative ocean farming
✓ Include ocean farmer training programs in the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.
✓ Direct USDA to create a new program dedicated to research and policy development for ocean-based farming include ocean farmer training programs
✓ Establish eligibility for ocean farmers under the USDA Biomass Crop Assistance Program, which provides loan guarantees and other financial support to farmers
Include microalgae as a tax credit based on guidelines recommended by the IPCC, and create a USDA program to develop methodology providing full credit for ocean bio-based content for products from biologically recycled carbon and nitrogen.
Fund the expansion of the Sea Grant programs, which provides direct technical assistance to ocean-based industries.
Invest in blue carbon habitat restoration.
✓ Include restoration of marine ecosystems into a 21st Century Civilian Conservation Corps
✓ Fully fund NOAA’s Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program, which partners with states to conserve local ecosystems
Authorize domestic blue carbon program charged with the creation of a carbon fund for ocean-based emission reductions
Support sustainable community-based fisheries
✓ Direct NOAA to make it easier for fishermen to sell seafood directly to US consumers
✓ Expand the species currently monitored under the Seafood Import Monitoring Program
✓ Increase funding for Young Fishermen’s Development Act
Support the passage of the Keeping America’s Working Waterfronts Act to identify and support investment needs for local communities’ working waterfronts, and support the passage of legislation that would incentivize community allocations under Limited Access Privilege Programs
Senator Elizabeth Warren:
Many of the above are listed in Warren’s policies, but hers also include:
Transition from offshore drilling to offshore renewable energy:
Fully transition from an offshore drilling supply chain to offshore wind, with a commitment to retraining those in the offshore industry, including guaranteed wage and benefits parity for those who decide to transition, and guaranteed pensions and early retirement benefits for those who seek retirement
Streamline and fast track permitting for offshore renewable energy, including disallowing aesthetics as a reason to deny permits for offshore energy
Include offshore wind projects as part of Warren’s Green Manufacturing Plan’s $2 trillion investment, and ensure that the supply chain is completely domestic, including raw materials like steel, iron, and cement and shipping
Ensure new development of offshore projects are subject to Project Labor Agreements and government support is subject to Community Based Agreements
Expand community based seafood markets by including seafood markets in the USDA’s Local Agriculture Market Program, which Warren has committed to invest $5 billion in over 10 years
Reduce port emissions
Create stricter emission standards for shipping, or “bunker” fuels
Start transitioning port energy, include from port equipment and shore power, to fully electric energy
Institute speed reduction zones to reduce emissions in all ports
Reduce ocean trash
Reduce single use plastic
Establish markets for recycled materials by setting recycled content standards
Mitigate the human and ecological toll of natural disasters on our coasts
Grants to protect coastal tribe land that has cultural, spiritual, and ecological significance
Help low-income communities living in flood-prone areas to move to more secure areas by having the government purchase their homes in flood prone areas
And, crucially, the Blue New Deal is popular:
64% of those polled say they support government investment to restore wetlands and seagrass, while just 21% are opposed. Another 45% support loans and subsidies for domestic seafood producers to help ease the burden for struggling fishermen with just 25% opposed.
Tackling climate change must include a comprehensive plan to address the emergency gripping our oceans, where the harms of warming are becoming alarmingly apparent to researchers, fishermen and communities alike. This is an essential (and admittedly less sexy) part of the agenda for equitable decarbonization. Senator Warren has distinguished herself by studying the details. The climate crisis is simply too important not to.
Johnny Bowman (@JohnnyFBowman) is a Fellow at Data for Progress.
Julian Brave NoiseCat (@jnoisecat) is Vice President of Policy & Strategy at Data for Progress.
Sean McElwee (@SeanMcElwee) is a Co-Founder and the Executive Director of Data for Progress.
Question Wording
“Would you [support or oppose] a policy to invest government funding in restoring wetlands and plant seagrasses, shellfish, mangroves, and seaweed?”
“Would you [support or oppose] a policy to provide loans and subsidies to domestic seafood producers and fisheries?”