[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 5, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 48231-48232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-12494]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 89 , No. 109 / Wednesday, June 5, 2024 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 48231]]
Proclamation 10770 of May 31, 2024
National Ocean Month, 2024
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
This National Ocean Month, we celebrate the wonder and
power of our magnificent ocean and recommit to
protecting and conserving it for generations to come.
The ocean powers millions of jobs; feeds and sustains
us; and is a rejuvenating source of inspiration,
exploration, and recreation. Its rich ecosystems of
marine animals, plants, and other species have been
stewarded by Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities
since time immemorial. And protecting and caring for
the ocean is critical to tackling the existential
threat of our time: climate change.
Today, the ocean is facing unprecedented threats.
Record-breaking ocean temperatures, together with
pollution and ocean acidification, have forced marine
life from their historic habitats, damaging ecosystems
and straining communities who rely on the ocean for
sustenance and work. Rising sea levels and warmer ocean
waters have also endangered food supply chains and
contributed to increasingly dangerous storms, which
devastate coastal communities.
That is why my Administration is taking aggressive
action to deliver the most ambitious climate agenda in
history. We launched the Nation's first Ocean Climate
Action Plan, a bold and coordinated effort to address
the climate crisis. We are protecting and restoring key
coastal habitats, such as marshes, mangroves, seagrass
beds, coral reefs, and more, helping protect
communities on land, reduce the impact of natural
disasters along our shores, and protect biodiversity.
With historic investments from my Inflation Reduction
Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are expanding
offshore wind projects so that we have enough capacity
to power 10 million homes by 2030 while creating good-
paying jobs. Meanwhile, as we launch tens of thousands
of projects to modernize our Nation's infrastructure,
we are working to lower the carbon footprint of cargo
ships, build cleaner supply chains, and reduce
pollution. We are cracking down on illegal fishing and
strengthening sustainable fisheries so that we protect
hardworking Americans who rely on our ocean to make a
living.
My Administration has also been working tirelessly to
fulfill our goal of protecting and conserving at least
30 percent of America's lands and waters, including our
ocean. To that end, I took executive action to consider
designating more than 700,000 square miles of the
Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii as a new National
Marine Sanctuary--which could make this one of the
largest marine protected areas on the planet. If the
sanctuary is completed, it would conserve significant
natural and cultural resources and honor the
traditional practices and ancestral pathways of Pacific
Island voyagers. My Administration is also carefully
evaluating the potential Chumash Heritage National
Marine Sanctuary, the first Indigenous-led nomination
for a National Marine Sanctuary. Through the first-ever
United States Ocean Justice Strategy and my Investing
in America agenda, we are bringing environmental
justice to communities that have suffered the
consequences of climate change and pollution for too
long--including millions of dollars
[[Page 48232]]
in investments for ocean debris prevention and removal
through my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and funding
for communities to restore their coasts through my
Inflation Reduction Act.
This National Ocean Month, let us remember our
responsibility to our environment and recommit to
conserving, protecting, and restoring the bounty and
beauty of our ocean.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2024 as
National Ocean Month. I call upon Americans to take
action to protect, conserve, and restore our ocean and
coasts.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
eighth.
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2024-12494
Filed 6-4-24; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P