Save Our Shores, along with Oceana and others, organized a Sanctuary Mayor's Ocean Summit meeting with the aim of gathering all Mayor’s from along the Monterey Bay Sanctuary and further to discuss the threat that plastic poses to our communities and ways to combat single-use plastic items. 13 Mayor’s signed a Pledge to “work together and in our communities reduce and eliminate polystyrene and single-use plastic bags."

Mayor’s, City Managers, and representatives from environmental nonprofits attended the Summit on August 28th in Watsonville. Attendees included Walter Rob, co-president of the Whole Foods, U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, Assemblyman Bill Monning and former Assemblyman John Laird. Cynthia Mathews, Mayor of Santa Cruz, was also in attendance. Click here for the official website from the summit.

On August 5th, the California Department of Fish and Game Commission approved the adoption of 21 new marine protected areas on the North Central Coast.  These 21 new MPAs span from Pigeon Point in Half Moon Bay to just north of Point Arena in Mendocino County.  The MPAs cover about 155 square miles of sea and will come into effect on January 1st, 2010. 

This is a great victory for ocean conservation and we want to thank everyone who was involved in helping to get this proposal passed.  Kate Purcell of Save Our Shores was at the Department of Fish and Game commission meeting on August 5th.  She made a statement to the commission of how important these MPAs will be for the future of California fisheries as well as our own futures as people living on the California coast.  If we don't do something now to protect our coastline, it could be too late.

The Ocean Protection Council has finally released their Implementation Strategy for their Resolution to Reduce and Prevent Ocean Litter.  Save Our Shores has been following this closely to make sure that statewide priorities for reducing and preventing marine debris are as strong as possible.  We are excited to see the state take important actions towards preventing marine debris by re-evaluating the widespread use of single-use disposable items. 

Some of the measures include:

• Implement a producer take-back (EPR) program for convenience food packaging: to minimize packaging waste shift responsibility for packaging materials to producers by placing physical or financial responsibility for collection and disposal of packaging waste on those throughout the distribution chain, including producers of packaging and manufacturers of products that use packaging.
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The National Resource Defence Council maintains a great page on Oil, Energy, Renewable Technologies, and Drilling found here. Here is text from a PDF published by the NRDC:

[NRDC - The Destructive Consequences of Offshore Drilling: Offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) could do serious, irreparable damage to our oceans, coastal communities, and marine life.  Some consequences of drilling in the OCS include:

On July 14th President George W. Bush lifted the executive ban on offshore oil drilling. Save Our Shores is following this issue closely and will be mobilizing its constituents to contact state and federal elected officials to protect our shores from offshores oil drilling.

If you are in the California 17th District please call U.S. Representative Sam Farr and tell him that you do not want to have the Congressional Moratorium on Offshore Oil Drilling lifted and that the Federal Government should promote better energy alternatives for two reasons: to reduce demand for imported oil, and to reduce carbon-emissions.

Surprisingly Representative Sam Farr has been recieving calls of support for Offshore Oil drilling!

SOS urges all its constituents to CALL REPRESENTATIVE SAM FARR TODAY and have your VOICE HEARD!

Save Our Shores, the leader in ocean awareness, advocacy, and action on the Central Coast, was started 30 years ago when a group of citizens of Santa Cruz banded together to fight offshore oil drilling on the Central Coast of California. As residents with a remarkably rich ocean in our backyards, we realized the urgent need to protect these important ecosystems from the environmental hazards that offshore oil drilling could cause. Stop the threat of offshore oil drilling off our coast by contacting your Representative.

Fast forward to today - June 18, 2008 - President Bush joined Senator John McCain in calling on Congress to end the ban that has protected America's most pristine coastlines from oil drilling since 1981.