Increased human population magnified by modern technology is endangering the seas to the serious detriment of all life on Earth. Religion must step up to address this serious threat to God’s creation, a task that the NRCCC feels called to. At this time, groundwork is being laid to develop an “Ethic of the Seas” that will do forward to develop within the religious institutions and their people an ethos of nurture, protection, and appreciation of the ocean. Advocacy for regional, national, and international public policy will be better developed and implemented as with religion leading support. Our present tasks, then, are to (1) uncover the spiritual values inherent within God’s creation that is the seas, (2) to develop an ethic consonant with our faith, (3) to understand both science and society within the context of the seas, and (4) to implement a faithful response through education, public policy advocacy, and our own personal and corporate lifestyle. Apply Now for an Expedition to Develop an Ethic of the Seas
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The Earth is the Lords and the Fullness thereof... Psalm 24:1,2
[We] must change our attitudes toward the ocean. We must regard it as no longer a mystery, a menace, something so vast and invulnerable that we need not concern ourselves with it…. Instead we want to explore the themes of the ocean's existence—how it moves and breathes, how it experiences dramas and seasons, how it nourishes its hosts of living things, how it harmonizes the physical and biological rhythms of the whole earth, what hurts it and what feeds it—not least of all, what are its stories. NATIONAL-LEVEL REPORTS AND INITIATIVES:National Ocean Policy (Final Recommendations document is particularly useful for framing the major U.S. ocean issues): http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/oceans/policy Final report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (which concluded in 2004; articulates many of the major U.S. ocean challenges; this effort paved the way for the work of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force that developed the National Ocean Policy): http://www.oceancommission.gov/documents/full_color_rpt/welcome.html Pew Oceans Commission (which concluded in 2003; final report "America's Living Oceans: Charting a Course for Sea Change" articulates many of the major U.S. ocean challenges; this effort also helped to pave the way for the subsequent development of the National Ocean Policy): http://www.pewtrusts.org/our_work_detail.aspx?id=130 Draft National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy (which articulates climate impacts and adaptation options for marine systems and other natural systems): http://www.wildlifeadaptationstrategy.gov/public-review-draft.php OCEAN-RELATED WEBSITES:Smithsonian Ocean Portal Sea Web http://www.seaweb.org/home.php Ocean Conservancy http://www.oceanconservancy.org/ Oceana WWF http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/googleoceans.html Restore America's Estuaries Ocean Economics Project http://www.oceaneconomics.org/ National Capital Project http://www.naturalcapitalproject.org/index.html National Capital Project - Coastal Belize project http://www.naturalcapitalproject.org/belize.html PISCO - the science of marine reserves http://www.piscoweb.org/outreach/pubs/reserves Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (information on value of marine ecosystems to UK, current and projected impacts of climate change, actions and plans to increase resilience) Season's End (coalition of hunting and fishing interests calling for action on climate change) Blue Carbon portal (information on carbon services of coastal and marine habitats - and need to conserve them) |
Toward an Ethic of the Seas