Political Quotes

“I thank my colleague for yielding. I also thank Chairman DeFazio for his ongoing efforts to help us bring this important bill to the floor today. As the co-chair of the House Oceans Caucus, I rise in strong support of Save Our Seas 2.0, a bill to clean up marine debris. Every minute, the equivalent of a garbage truck full of plastic is dumped into our ocean. According to the United Nations, that is more than 8 million tons a year. Plastic bottles, straws, grocery bags, cigarette butts, fishing gear, and abandoned vessels litter the ocean. After the tsunami hit the coast of Japan in 2011, large materials, like docks and boats that carried invasive species, ended up on the shores of northwest Oregon. Tiny pieces of plastic also make their way into marine life, blocking digestive tracts, altering growth, and in some cases killing marine mammals and fisheries. We still don't know how long it takes for plastic to completely biodegrade. Estimates range from 450 years to never. A recent study from the Pew Charitable Trusts found that without action, by 2040, the annual flow of plastic into the ocean could nearly triple to 29 million metric tons. Let me be clear: We need to fundamentally change our reliance on plastics. Plastics pollute our ocean and exacerbate the climate crisis. The fossil fuel and plastics industries are deeply connected, and plastics contribute a significant share of industrial emissions in the United States.…”