A4
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, NOvEmbER 11, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
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Circulation manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production manager
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Systems manager
GUEST COLUMN
If we act now, we can make a difference
T
he signs of the climate crisis are
everywhere — droughts, wild-
fires, extreme heat waves, flood-
ing and more intense hurricanes. We
can no longer ignore the growing costs
of climate change on people and our
communities.
And there can be no action to fight
climate change and limit its impacts
without including the ocean. The ocean
plays an essential role in
climate regulation and
provides solutions for
adaptation and mitigation
to address climate-driven
impacts. Ocean-climate
action must reduce those
impacts and build resil-
KATE
ience for ecosystems
BROWN
and coastal communi-
ties dependent upon a
healthy ocean. Our ocean
and coasts can help us
meet our climate goals.
Along the West
Coast, our culture, tra-
ditions and economies
are strongly connected
JAY
to our ocean, coasts and
INSLEE
estuaries. From fishing
to aquaculture to recre-
ation and shipping, our
coasts support thousands
of family-wage jobs,
maintain our cultural
identities and help feed
people.
Since time imme-
ELENI
morial, Indigenous peo-
KOUNALAKIS
ples have made the rich
ocean and marine coast-
lines of the West Coast
their home. Abun-
dant salmon, halibut,
whales, Dungeness crab
and shellfish remain an
important foundation
to Indigenous ways of
JOHN
life for hundreds of First
HORGAN
Nations and tribes in our
region.
Up and down our coastlines, we have
already experienced the ravages of cli-
mate-ocean change including sea-level
rise, ocean acidification, ocean warm-
ing and reduced oxygen levels. Recent
marine heat waves and harmful algal
blooms have killed or poisoned shellfish
and marine mammals and caused tem-
porary closures to important commercial
fisheries including tribal, First Nation
and recreational harvesting. Ocean acid-
ification is damaging shell-forming
species, impacting shellfish aquacul-
ture production and ecosystem health.
Iconic species like salmon and orcas and
important habitats like kelp forests are
suffering dramatic declines due to cli-
mate-driven impacts.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Cli-
mate Change recently reported that sea-
level rise, ocean acidification, ocean
warming and deoxygenation will con-
tinue to increase in the 21st century
— how fast and how much change we
experience are dependent on future
emissions scenarios. The West Coast has
experienced a preview of the changes
to come if we do not act urgently and
aggressively to reduce our greenhouse
gas emissions.
The good news is that if we act now,
we can make a difference. Our leaders
have banded together to take action. We
support a regional partnership called the
Pacific Coast Collaborative to advance
climate policies, build a clean energy
economy and infrastructure and increase
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
Governors from Oregon and Washington say there can be no action to fight climate change and limit its impacts without including the ocean.
OuR dECISIONS mATTER. ANd WE
AREN’T WAITING TO ACT – ALL LEvELS OF
GOvERNmENT ANd SOCIETy muST PLAy A ROLE
IN TAKING bOLd OCEAN ANd CLImATE ACTION
ANd INCREASING OuR RESILIENCE.
our resilience to impacts already
occurring.
We are taking action by requiring
more clean electricity, reducing transpor-
tation emissions with low-carbon fuels
and zero-emission vehicle targets, and
reducing carbon pollution by putting a
price on climate-harming pollution to
ensure we dramatically cut our green-
house gas emissions.
On the ocean and coastal front, we’re
taking additional actions to reduce root
causes and build resilience of key ocean
businesses, ecosystems and communi-
ties to impacts. We’re working to rein in
local pollution that exacerbates stress on
ocean and coastal ecosystems, including
by upgrading our wastewater and storm-
water systems and taking action to pre-
vent plastic pollution and other marine
debris from harming coastal waters.
We are evaluating how nature-based
solutions, including some ocean and
coastal systems, so-called blue carbon
habitats, can contribute to sequestering
carbon through targeted assessments.
And we are advancing the protection and
restoration of key coastal and marine
natural areas with goals and targets
that support ecosystem resilience and
recovery.
We are emphasizing environmental
justice as we work to predict risks, vul-
nerabilities and solutions along our coast
and with our coastal communities. Social
vulnerability assessments are taking
shape in partnership with tribal leaders,
First Nations, communities and resource
managers to help determine risks to cul-
turally and socially important species,
identify information needs and support
management and adaptation actions that
will increase resilience.
We’ve helped synthesize scientific
understanding by facilitating communi-
cation among regional scientists, man-
agers and policymakers and are increas-
ing and coordinating investments for
regional research, monitoring and fore-
casting. These efforts will provide infor-
mation on the status and trends of cli-
mate impacts on the world’s oceans. For
ocean acidification, enhancing monitor-
ing to better couple biological and chem-
ical data has the potential to offer deci-
sion-makers with information needed to
develop policy in response to worsening
conditions that threaten the stability of
the affected ecosystems.
On that front, we continue to learn
from each other and share information
such as the recently released publication,
“Ocean Acidification: Insight for Pol-
icy and Integrated Management,” which
examines the challenges and opportu-
nities facing state and regional govern-
ments in responding to ocean-climate
impacts. The issue includes 42 authors
representing government and nongovern-
ment institutions across nine states.
And we are having global impact.
In 2016, we launched the International
Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification
and issued a call to national, subnational
and civil society to protect oceans from
the impacts of rising carbon emissions
and help do our part to meet the goals
of the Paris climate agreement. Today,
we have over 100 members including
nations such as Fiji, Chile, New Zealand,
France, Canada and Sweden along with
many U.S. states, tribal government and
First Nations, cities and ports. Members
are committed to addressing ocean acid-
ification and elevating the importance of
integrating the ocean in climate policy
frameworks such as the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate
Change and the United Nations 2030
Sustainable Development Agenda.
As part of our leadership role at
COP26 — we are calling for bold
ocean-climate actions that:
• Implement aggressive climate action
through carbon emissions reductions.
Achieving ambitious emission reduc-
tions targets is the most important step
in turning the tide of climate impacts on
our ocean.
• Create ongoing opportunities to inte-
grate the ocean into international climate
policy efforts. Sharing information on
ocean solutions and actions can help us
all do more to reduce ocean and coastal
impacts and build resilience faster.
• Increase international and domestic
finance for science-based ocean mitiga-
tion and adaptation strategies.
• Integrate ocean actions into climate
policies at the domestic level.
• Ensure tribal sovereigns, First
Nations and Indigenous peoples’ knowl-
edge, leadership and priorities as well as
those of overburdened communities are
reflected across ocean and coastal cli-
mate change response strategies and pro-
cesses, including consideration of tribal
treaty rights and responsibilities.
Our decisions matter. And we aren’t
waiting to act – all levels of govern-
ment and society must play a role in tak-
ing bold ocean and climate action and
increasing our resilience. We are leading
by harnessing the power of regionally
coordinated action to help defeat the cli-
mate crisis and to help our coastal com-
munities and ocean resources endure for
generations to come.
Kate brown is the governor of Oregon.
Jay Inslee is the governor of Washington.
Eleni Kounalakis is the lieutenant gover-
nor of California. John Horgan is the pre-
mier of british Columbia.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Beating boredom
I
s your life too predictable? The same
routine every day? I guess we all need
a routine. But it seems to me the secret for
taking boredom out of our lives is by pro-
gramming lots of surprises into our lives.
One morning I told my wife I was
going to take her on a cruise. I drove to the
ferry landing in Westport, and we cruised
across the Columbia River.
We on the North Coast have no excuse
for being bored. Surprises galore are
everywhere. We live in an area full of sur-
prises. Trips to Cape Disappointment, to
North Head, and just crossing the Astoria
Bridge, can be a surprise.
Boredom ceases when we get into
action and look for surprises all about
us. Where in the world can you look out
your window and see elk nibbling in your
grass? Or go to the store and find fresh
seafood — surprise!
Listening to the crash of waves from
our Pacific Ocean surprises; the Columbia
River Maritime Museum and the Astoria
Column, all surprises!
Beat boredom! Every day is brand new
— look for all the surprises!
JIM BERNARD
Warrenton
Outstanding performance
T
here was an outstanding performance
Sunday afternoon at the beautifully
unique and recently renovated Liberty
Theatre.
After a year hiatus because of COVID-
19 health measures, the North Coast Sym-
phonic Band opened its 42nd concert sea-
son with a marvelous repertoire of songs
celebrating American music. The Sunday
show was led off by the familiar Astoria
Tuba Quartet.
The North Coast Symphonic Band is
made up fellow citizens from our North
Coast, consisting of professional and vol-
unteer musicians from different walks of
life who put in many hours of practice to
bring high level music to our area. We are
fortunate that they dedicate their time and
talents to entertain us.
Visiting guest conductors Joan Paddock
and Seth Wollam are both from Linfield
University. During two numbers, the audi-
ence was treated with delightful dancing
from Astoria’s Sparrow Dance Co.
Two songs were accompanied with a
stand-out performance by local Amanda
McClure, who clearly sang with an
opera-quality voice.
The North Coast Symphonic Band has
another concert planned for Feb. 6, again
at the Liberty Theatre.
NORMAN SHATTO
Astoria