March for the Ocean Set for June 9, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Mass events planned in nation’s capital and elsewhere to fight offshore oil drilling, end plastic pollution and protect our coastlines

WASHINGTON, Feb.1, 2018 – Next summer, on Saturday June 9, 2018, World Oceans Day weekend and the beginning of the 2018 hurricane season, the March for the Ocean (M4O) campaign will mount mass marches, flotillas and rallies in our nation’s capital and around the country.

People will be mobilizing to stop reckless offshore oil drilling being pursued by the Trump administration and to promote job-generating clean energy, to call for large-scale reduction in plastic waste that is killing ocean wildlife and to promote protection and restoration of our coastlines in the face of rising seas and intensified hurricanes like last year’s Harvey, Irma and Maria.

Everyone is encouraged to ‘Wear Blue for the Ocean’ and to ‘March for the Ocean’ on June 9.

More than 70 M4O partner organizations have enlisted to support this effort to unite at a moment of crisis and policy failure to #MarchForTheOcean and to promote a Healthy Ocean and Clean Water for All.

The growing chorus of supporters includes environmentalists, scientists, surfers, boaters, divers, fishermen, artists, filmmakers, social justice activists, small businesses, major aquariums, deep-sea explorers, students, parents, teachers and citizen activists - everyone who gets so much from our ocean, lakes, and rivers - coming together to give something back.

“Next summer we will see a new wave of resistance – and appreciation - for the other 71 percent of our environment that is the ocean,” said David Helvarg, Chair of the M4O Steering Committee and Executive Director of Blue Frontier Campaign, an ocean conservation and policy group working with other M4O partners including Blue Mind, the Sierra Club, Earth Day Network, Greenpeace, Surfrider Foundation, Ocean Conservancy, Plastic Pollution Coalition, the National Aquarium, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and many more (for the full list of march partners to date go to www.marchforocean.com).

“Our coastal lifestyles and economies rely on a healthy coastal environment,” said Chad Nelsen, CEO of the Surfrider Foundation. “Clean water, beach access, healthy beaches and a thriving ocean are worth fighting for.”

March for the Ocean endorsers and participants include:

• Dr. Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue

• Philippe Cousteau, Earth Echo International

• Bill McKibben, 350.org

• Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Earth Guardians

• Wyland - marine artist

• Ralph Nader - consumer activist

Action plans include a flotilla of boats and kayaks on the Potomac River, interactive exhibits, a 91-foot life-sized blue whale, and a march and rally in Washington, D.C. Sister cities’ marches across America will include Miami, Boulder, Colorado; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California; Tucson, Arizona; Las Vegas, Nevada; Cairo, Georgia; Indianapolis, Indiana; Honolulu, Hawaii, and many more underway.

The Ocean is Rising and So Are We!

For more information go to: www.marchforocean.com

Watch the M4O youth video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT3iCSDZmiFBafphhz4A5fA

Follow M4O on our Facebook Page, Twitter and Youtube. #MarchForOcean #M4O

#OceansAreRising #SoAreWe

Contact:

Jaime Sigaran Jaime@bluefront.og o: 202.387.8030 c: 240.593.3433

Eleanor Kerlow Elli@bluefront.org c: 301.335.8141

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