Presidential Document2023-12062
National Ocean Month, 2023
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
June 5, 2023
Signed
May 31, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 107 (Monday, June 5, 2023)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 107 (Monday, June 5, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 36459-36460]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12062]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 107 / Monday, June 5, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 36459]]
Proclamation 10594 of May 31, 2023
National Ocean Month, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The ocean makes life on Earth possible--feeding us,
sustaining livelihoods, and connecting economies across
the globe. It bonds us as a source of recreation and
rejuvenation for our spirits and links us to our
heritage through Indigenous communities who have
stewarded our marine habitats since time immemorial.
Through its rich ecosystems of diverse plants, animals,
and other species, it is also central to our fight
against the climate crisis and to creating a cleaner,
safer, and healthier future. During National Ocean
Month, we recommit to protecting and conserving our
precious ocean and to harnessing its power to shape a
more sustainable planet.
My Administration is acting with urgency and a
seriousness of purpose. Around the globe, the climate
crisis today is drastically impacting marine life,
coastal communities, and the ocean economy. The past
eight years have been the warmest on record--and more
than 90 percent of excess heat has been absorbed by the
ocean. Rising temperatures force marine life to move
away from their usual habitats, straining communities
and working families who rely on fisheries for a living
and for sustenance. Increasing acidity in our seas,
along with nutrient and plastic pollution, endangers
species and threatens food supplies. Higher sea levels
make storm surges even more dangerous for coastal
communities.
But we are not powerless in the face of these
challenges--and the ocean can be an effective tool to
confront them. That is why my Administration has joined
together with State, Tribal, territorial, and local
partners to implement the first-ever United States
Ocean Climate Action Plan. With billions of dollars
from our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and our
Inflation Reduction Act--the most significant climate
investment in American history--we are advancing new
offshore wind projects with an ambitious goal of
deploying 30 gigawatts by 2030, enough to power 10
million homes while also protecting biodiversity. We
are modernizing America's infrastructure and
electrifying equipment at our ports to decrease the
carbon footprint of cargo ships and build cleaner
supply chains. And as part of our strategy to place
environmental justice at the center of our ocean
climate action, we are supporting communities that have
been smothered by a legacy of pollution.
At the same time, we are protecting ecosystems and
supporting the communities who rely on them. Together
with our international partners, we are cracking down
on illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. And we
are working to strengthen sustainable fisheries,
ensuring hardworking Americans can continue to provide
for their families and feed our Nation.
As part of my America the Beautiful Initiative--which
set a goal of conserving 30 percent of America's lands
and waters by 2030--we are also taking steps toward
designating new national marine sanctuaries. Toward
that aim, I issued a Presidential Memorandum to
consider designating more than 700,000 square miles
around the Pacific Remote Islands as a new national
marine sanctuary. If completed, this area would be
among the largest marine protected areas on the planet.
And it would honor the traditional practices and
ancestral pathways of Pacific Island voyagers. With
input from Tribal partners, my Administration also
began the designation process for multiple
[[Page 36460]]
new national marine sanctuaries, including the Hudson
Canyon in the Atlantic Ocean and the Chumash Heritage
National Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Southern
California.
These actions make us safer. Healthy ecosystems like
mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes take carbon out
of the atmosphere while creating natural buffers that
help absorb the force of hurricanes, typhoons, and
tropical storms before they reach our communities. That
is why my Administration is investing more than $500
million to help fortify these and other, nature-based
climate solutions and create good-paying jobs for
Americans in the process.
It is hard to imagine just how much of the ocean we
have yet to discover and what possibilities for the
future of human and planetary health, as well as for
our economy, lie beneath its surface. This National
Ocean Month, let us honor its beauty and bounty with
action and commit to protecting and conserving it for
generations to come.
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 2023 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-three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
seventh.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2023-12062
Filed 6-2-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on June 5, 2023.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.