December 21st, 2010

Sharks will be protected from the wasteful, inhumane practice of shark-finning in U.S. waters with the U.S. House passage today of the Shark Conservation Act.

The bill, which the Senate passed yesterday, will strongly discourage “finning” by requiring that fishing boats bring sharks to land whole. It also will forbid the transfer of fins at sea by U.S. fishing vessels.

Oceana’s federal policy director Beth Lowell, praised Congress for getting to the measure before adjourning, saying that the U.S. is showing leadership in protecting oceans.

“Oceana applauds Congress and its ocean heroes for passing such an important piece of legislation,” said Lowell, who called out sponsors Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Congresswomen Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam).

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December 29th, 2009

Thursday, Dec. 17

Hillary breaks through the chatter

Amid the cacophony in Copenhagen, a bright spot.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke to a packed press conference, pledging that the U.S. would help raise $100 billion a year by 2020 in aid to developing nations to mitigate climate change effects.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Her words, despite the surrounding maelstrom of discontented protesters, developing nations worried about being marginalized and others who’ve declared the talks either stalled or in chaos, could help bring clarity as the historic summit lurches toward a close on Friday.

The pledge, which Clinton said would come from a mix of public and private money, including funds raised on the carbon market, speaks to both those negotiating on behalf of the other leading nations who want to see the U.S. put real money on the table , and to those in developing nations, many of whom doubt that the rich nations have the political will to put up a strong and well-funded fight against climate change.

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October 28th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

So often politicians obscure their message with caveats, euphemisms and wonky references to elaborately named legislation.

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) took the conversation a different direction yesterday when speaking to student activists assembled for an online teleconference Tuesday night sponsored by Consequence09.org.

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