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Coastal Economy and Tourism Are Being Put at Risk by Offshore Oil Drilling · How To Protect The Ocean

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The US government wants to open more than 1 billion acres of
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ocean to offshore oil drilling.
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That decision can threaten beaches, fisheries, tourism, jobs, and coastal
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communities across California, Alaska, and the Gulf of Mexico.
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In this episode, surf Riders Pizza offer explains why this plant is
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so dangerous, who really benefits.
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And how everyday people can still stop it.
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We're gonna talk about that on today's episode of the How
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to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
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Let's start the show.
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Hey everybody.
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Welcome back to another exciting episode of the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
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I'm your host, and/or Lewin, Marine biologist and science communicator
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here to tell you what's happening with the ocean, how you can speak up for
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the ocean, and what you can do to live for a better ocean by taking action.
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On today's episode, we're gonna focus on a major federal Prosple that could reshape.
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America's coastlines For decades, the Trump administration has released
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a new offshore oil and gas drilling plan that would expand leases across
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vast areas of the US Ocean, including regions that were previously protected.
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How are they doing this?
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I have no idea.
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Is it right?
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I have no idea.
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We're gonna find out today to help us understand what is at stake.
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I'm joined by Peter Stoffer, national Ocean Protection Manager
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at the Surf Rider Foundation.
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Surf Rider is a grassroots organization with chapters and
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volunteers across the US and beyond.
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And for over 40 years, they have been protecting oceans, waves, and
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beaches from threats Just like this one, Pete works directly on offshore
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drilling policy and has spent more than 20 years inside surf riders.
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Starting as a volunteer and rising through the organization.
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In this conversation, we talk about why offshore drilling is an existential
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threat, how it affects coastal economies and communities, and why this issue
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is not partisan, and what listeners can do right now to speak up and.
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Protect the ocean.
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They depend on.
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This is going to be a great interview.
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I can't wait for you to listen.
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So here's the interview with Peter Stocker from the Surf Rider Foundation.
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Enjoy the interview and I'll talk to you after.
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Hey Pete, welcome to the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
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Are you ready to talk about this new oil and gas plan in the us this drilling plan,
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as well as surf rider's position on it?
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I am ready.
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Thanks so much for having me, and/or.
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You bet.
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I'm super excited for this because, you know, we've, we've had on at this
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point we've, we've, I've recorded and I've posted Oceania's recording
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with this interview about this plan.
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I'm doing the same thing with you 'cause I wanted to get surf writer's
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perspective, uh, you know, on this.
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'cause it's, it's good to get everybody's perspective and I know.
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Surf Rider Oceania have worked together before.
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We're gonna have other, uh, people on as well to talk more about this plan.
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Um, but I want to get everybody's perspective.
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'cause Surf Rider has this unique positioning within sort
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of the, the ocean conservation world in that it's a grassroots.
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Um, you know, a grassroots organization has a lot of people on the ground of
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all over the us, even in Canada and other places, and you guys have been
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able to accomplish so much, so much with the staff as well as the army
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of people that you have to, you know, speak up and speak out against stuff
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that's happening, not only to prevent.
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You know, beautiful surfing spots from being ruined, but also just to
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protect this lovely ocean that we have.
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So, really appreciate you coming on the podcast to give Surf Riders
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position on this oil and gas plan.
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I think it's very important to hear everybody's perspective and what they
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can do, Um, So before we get into all that though, Pete, why don't you just
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let us know who you are and what you do.
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Yeah, thanks, and/or.
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Uh, my name is Pete Stoffer.
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I'm the National Ocean Protection Manager for Surf Rider Foundation.
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So I lead Surf Riders national campaigns to protect the ocean.
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So right now, uh, a huge amount of effort focused on stopping new offshore drilling.
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That's, that's great.
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There's been a lot of stuff, um, I, I, you know, we're gonna focus on this, this
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offshore drilling plan, but there's been a lot of stuff that, uh, we are speaking
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up against and speaking out against.
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Right.
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There's deep sea mining, there's oil and gas, there's like the EPA
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problems that are going in just.
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You know, no funding being cut and a lot of people being, uh, thinking how,
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how is everybody at Surf, surf Rider?
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It's a lot of work.
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You know, you're working in over overdrive.
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How is everybody doing there?
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Yeah, well, you're right.
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It has been a really challenging time under the current federal administration,
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but, uh, surf Rider's great.
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You know, we're a volunteer based organization and we are so lucky to
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have incredible chapters, credible student clubs, and a lot of what
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Surf Rider does is programs, uh, beach cleanups, water testing.
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Uh, we work on, on local projects.
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You know, everything from, you know, protecting and restoring our beaches to
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making sure there's good public access.
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So, yeah.
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Uh, I, I think that's kind of the magic and the stoke mm-hmm.
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That bring people, uh, to surf Rider.
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I've been with Surf Rider for over 20 years and Wow.
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I started as a volunteer that I became a chapter leader than,
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uh, a regional manager, And so.
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Um, sort of the classic example of someone who's kind of worked their way up.
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But I, that's what I've always loved about the organization is,
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is just that grassroots muscle.
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And when we do have these federal threats, that's the real power of
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being able to unite our chapter network and our clubs across the country.
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You know, working with partners like Oceana and many others.
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Uh, to try and stop bad things from happening to our ocean.
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I, I, I completely agree.
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You've been with Surf for 20 over 20 years, which is amazing.
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Uh.
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In that time, there have been some ups and downs, as you mentioned.
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There's a, there's federal threats right now.
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You've had federal threats before, probably had state threats and all,
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you know, across like things are so dynamic across the US it's so different
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culture and everything like that that goes, that goes on, uh, you know,
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whoever's the governor at the time or whatever the states are doing at the
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time, even from a municipal level.
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What has helped you like through like what parts?
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Like you've, you've seem like you've done a lot of different
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parts within, within Surf Rider.
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What do you find like people really clinging to during these tougher times
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that are volunteering or working within the sort of the, the surf rider umbrella?
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'cause like.
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In my, like, just to the assumption here is people like the hands-on stuff
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they're doing, like the beach cleanups or you know, something, you know,
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that's, that's more hands-on that you do.
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Um, is that what helps or are there other things that help as well?
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Yeah, I think, you know, at Surf Rider it is very much about place and
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you know, when I was younger I moved around a bit and it was always so fun
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to be able to move to a new place.
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Go to a surf writer chapter meeting and just knowing that you would
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meet great people and mm-hmm.
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You could have a way, not just to get involved with conservation work, but
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to actually be part of a community.
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So Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I think that's, that's a big part of the appeal of, of wanting to work on something
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that feels a little more tangible.
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Mm-hmm.
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Um, but I think the other thing is, is being part of something that's bigger.
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You know, this national network, the international affiliates.
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Because with issues, you know, facing our ocean and our environment,
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it can get really depressing.
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And so, yeah, as one person, you can think, well, what difference can I make?
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But if you're plugging into, uh, a national campaign or you're getting your,
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your hand sandy, you know, restoring a beach, uh, it all kind of, you know,
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adds to that feeling of yeah, you're really doing something and it matters.
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And when people come on, I know there's like an onboarding process
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when people come on as a volunteer.
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You guys provide videos, you know, online videos and, and things like that.
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And there's, everybody does their own thing within their chapters to
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help people, uh, you know, stay up top, stay at top of, of the issues.
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And then what?
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You can do for people who are listening to this, who want to do something,
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especially during a time like this where they're seeing a lot of federal cuts and,
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and, and a lot of proposals for drilling and for deep sea mining and stuff, what
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do you recommend, especially with your experience, what do you recommend they do,
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uh, you know, to help speak up and help, you know, speak out against these things?
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Yeah, I mean a, a few things.
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One, of course, getting involved in, whether it's Surf rider or another
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organization, uh, because they can help you make a difference Yeah.
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On the things that you, you care about.
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Mm-hmm.
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Uh, and the other thing is just communicating with your elected officials.
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And it's so important, whether it's city council Yeah.
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State legislator, uh, your representatives in Congress.
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We live in a democracy and it's their job to listen to their constituents.
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So.
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Um, that is so important too.
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And that can come in the form of like emails, phone calls, tweets or exes
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or whatever you call them now or Yeah.
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Any way of communicating 'em so you can send them, you know, uh, information
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based informa, like information that you want, like, you know, evidence-based
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information is what I meant to say, like to, to, and, And then what I
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always tell people too, and I'm sure this goes a long way with surf fryers.
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Is the stories.
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Tell the stories of why you love that specific place.
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If you're a surfer, why have you been surfing there for 30 years or for 10
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years, or for 15 years, or, or if you're a fisher, why you've been fishing this.
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'cause I think it's important to tell those stories 'cause
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we connect over those stories.
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Is that something that Surf Rider encourages?
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Oh e exactly.
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And especially with elected officials, we love to invite them to our beach
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cleanups, nice to water testing events.
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Um, nice.
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You know, to show them that, that the places, not just the environment
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and the wildlife, but show 'em, you know, how businesses and their
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constituents, you know, really depend on a clean, coastal environment.
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So, absolutely.
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Uh, and we're nonpartisan.
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We believe that.
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You know, it shouldn't be some sort of, uh, political stance one way or
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the other to wanna protect our public resources Um, So, you know, that's
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our goal is, is to build that broad support and do it from the bottom up.
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Absolutely.
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And everybody should love the ocean, right?
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I know.
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And everybody loves the ocean, but we all should, you know, love the ocean.
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Doesn't matter on political spectrum, cultural, professional,
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wherever you're from the world, we all need, we all need the ocean.
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So we, we should all, you know, protect as much as possible.
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Obviously that's how you and I feel, don't wanna speak for you, but I'm
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sure that's how you feel as well.
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Yep.
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And so I, yeah, that's the way I see it.
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Um, this is great.
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No, I, I, you know, before we get into the, the, the offshore plan, I have one
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more question 'cause I know, uh, a lot of people will be kicking me and screaming
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and being like, and/or, you gotta ask.
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How people can work for sea, like for, for surf rider, you know, like based
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on your experience, you know, I know you, you talked about how, but how did
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you, like what was your background when you first volunteered, uh, with the
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organization and did the organization inspire you to do more schooling or how
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did that all, how did that all work out?
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Yeah, no, great question.
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I get it all the time too.
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Uh, I mean, I began as a volunteer with Surf Riders, so that's certainly one way
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to, you know, gain relevant experience and show your interest in Yeah, in, you
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know, being part of the organization.
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Uh, in my case, you know, I work for the environmental department
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within Surf Rider, so I have a, a science and a policy background.
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Mm-hmm.
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So, before actually getting hired by Surf Rider, I was working for Noah, which is
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the lead federal agency Oh, interesting.
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For managing the oceans.
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So I think from their standpoint, you know, they probably saw my
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grassroots and volunteer background, but also the, the academic background
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and, and professional experience.
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You know, working within Ocean Management.
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So I, I think that was a helpful background.
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But, you know, we have, um, you know, people who work in our marketing
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team, communications, um, you know, doing grassroots training and,
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and things like that, so, mm-hmm.
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It really depends on the type of position that you'd be seeking.
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I love it.
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Perfect.
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Thank you so much for that.
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Let's get into this offshore, uh, oil and gas drilling plan.
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Um, can you just tell us, like, give us an overview of what that plan entails, where
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it, it plans to do leases And so forth?
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Sure.
12:28
Yeah.
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So three weeks ago, the Trump administration released their
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offshore drilling federal Prosple.
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So this is something the federal government does every five years.
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They create a new offshore drilling plan, uh, in this case, uh, they're
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doing it sooner than that because they didn't like the Biden plan.
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Uh, but this, the, the Trump administration plan, it's really alarming,
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uh, proposes over 1.2 billion acres of ocean for oil and gas development.
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And that includes, uh, multiple regions throughout the country, right?
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So the entire California coast.
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Uh, most of the Gulf of Mexico, uh, including the central and Western
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Gulf, but also, uh, a large portion of the Eastern Gulf off Florida
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that was previously protected.
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Uh, And then the Alaska and Arctic waters, hundreds of millions of acres, uh, of
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waters, pretty much around the entire state of Alaska, including the high
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Arctic, which is incredibly sensitive, so massive, unprecedented Prosple.
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Uh, no public meetings on this, but there is a public comment period
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that's open until January 23rd.
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So we're doing everything that we can to get the word out and, uh, to get people
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to get their comments on the record.
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Amazing.
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I mean, this is something that's, as you said, is quite alarming.
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How did it differ from the offshore plan for the Biden administration?
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Obvi there Was there obviously an increase, but by how much, like what was
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the the Biden plan doing compared to what this Trump administration plans to do?
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Yeah, so the Biden plan that was finalized, uh, just a couple years
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ago, it, uh, limits new leasing to just the central and Western Gulf.
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Okay.
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Um, So it still is a significant amount of new offshore drilling, uh, but
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compared to what the Trump administration is looking to do, uh, you know, a
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really a, a, a fraction of the impact.
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The other thing is before President Biden left office.
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He used his authority, uh, under the executive powers of the president
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to permanently protect the Atlantic Coast, the Pacific Coast, and the
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Eastern Gulf from New Drilling.
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And so those protections should still be in place.
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But when President Trump came in the office, uh, he issued, uh, an executive
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order and essentially announced that he was revoking those protections.
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Even though there's nothing under federal law that says he can do that.
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Right.
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But, but that's, that's my next question.
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Yeah.
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So there have been multiple, uh, lawsuits filed.
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So this will continue to play out within the courts.
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But, um, you know, for all intents and purposes, uh, those
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protections are not there right now because they have been revoked.
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We have a federal agency that's proposing huge amounts of
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drilling in many of those areas.
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Right.
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So when, when Biden put in those protections, because I remember Obama did
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that as well up in the North slope, right?
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In, in Alaska.
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Yeah.
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He put in these protections.
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He did.
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And I remember him doing it.
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I remember it saying that he did it through Congress to protect it so
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that it was, it it, you couldn't use an executive order to take it away.
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Is that, like for this one did, did the Biden administration, like, did
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President Biden use an executive order to protect these areas that you mentioned?
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The Eastern Gulf.
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The Atlantic, I believe it was the California coast, uh,
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to, for those protections.
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And that's why that, you know, Trump thinks that he can use an executive
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order to, to take those away.
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Or was it more solidified than that?
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Yeah.
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You know what President Biden did?
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He used his authority under federal law, so it was more
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than just an executive order.
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Okay.
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So there's a federal law called the, uh, outer Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act.
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Right?
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Basically provides the framework for how the federal government determines where
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and if new offshore drilling will occur.
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Yeah.
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There's a section, uh, under that law that says, and it's very
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succinct language, but it says.
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Uh, essentially that the president can withdraw, uh, temporarily or
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permanently certain, uh, areas of the outer continental shelf
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from future oil and gas leasing.
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That's all it says.
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It doesn't say anything else about a future president being able to
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reverse those protections, but essentially the, the argument
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that's being debated in the courts.
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For all the non-lawyers, and I'm not a lawyer either, but it's this debate
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of, well, did the law really intend for this to be used at that scale?
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Which, um, from our standpoint is sort of an arbitrary, you know,
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the, the determination, you know, of course we're going off what,
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what the language of the law says.
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Yeah.
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Um, and, and it's also probably worth noting that.
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Offshore drilling is broadly unpopular across the United States.
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This is particularly true on the Atlantic Coast, the Pacific
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Coast, the Eastern Gulf.
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You know, we'll get to this in a second, but we're seeing this play
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out in real time in terms of the Trump administration's Prosple, but
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Um, So yeah, in, in, in short, uh, the Trump administration revoked
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those protections that were.
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Highly popular and we're advocated for by communities for decades.
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And now his administration is looking to expand over a billion acres of
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ocean for new offshore drilling.
18:17
Interesting.
18:18
And of course, we know that this is not just about energy because he's
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canceled a lot of the ongoing activities and proposals for renewable energy.
18:29
On offshore, uh, like on the Atlantic Coast.
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I don't know if there's anything else on the Pacific, but I know he's canceled
18:37
a lot of that stuff that was going on because he just didn't think it was right.
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He didn't like, he doesn't like windmills.
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We all know he doesn't like windmills and the administration doesn't like, so
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it's not an energy thing because we know that if they had continued with this
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official plant and renewables, at least they could have a case that we're trying.
18:55
They're trying to increase energy.
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This is more about oil and gas drilling.
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'cause they think that's the way forward.
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They think that's the, the future of this administration.
19:03
So I find that really interesting when, you know, you cancel,
19:06
it's not just about energy.
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So you're not, you're taking away other alternative energy, which
19:10
could become mainstream energy the way it was being built up.
19:14
Uh, and a lot of, you know, a lot of regulations were
19:16
going into place for that.
19:18
Uh, as part of the, I believe it was the, in the, um, was it
19:22
the inflations act under Biden that these projects were going.
19:26
Yeah, sure.
19:26
The, the Inflation Reduction Act.
19:28
Yeah.
19:28
Reduction act.
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Yeah.
19:29
Yeah.
19:29
Yeah.
19:30
Yeah.
19:30
And, and also the bipartisan infrastructure laws.
19:33
So between those two federal laws, a huge federal investment in, um,
19:39
solar and wind and energy efficiency.
19:42
And yeah, it's been just a shame to see the current administration in Congress.
19:48
Try and reverse, uh, all those things.
19:50
Um, right.
19:51
But, but to what you were saying, uh, you know, one, we're turning our
19:55
back on renewable energy, which is not a finite resource and doesn't
20:00
contribute to climate change.
20:02
Uh, but the US is already energy independent.
20:05
I mean, we're at record levels of.
20:07
Oil and gas production.
20:09
We've been a net oil exporter for the last five years.
20:13
Uh, so yeah, none of this really is needed.
20:17
And it's basically just revealing, uh, a bias towards more and more, um,
20:24
oil and gas leasing at the expense of our public lands and waters.
20:28
Yeah, a hundred percent.
20:30
I, I think that's, that's a really good point to make now.
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Uh.
20:34
Surf rider calls offshore drilling an extent.
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Ex existential threat.
20:39
Yep.
20:40
What does that mean in practical terms to you guys?
20:45
Yeah, I mean, almost any way that you look at it and, and you know,
20:50
you think about the beaches and our coastlines and our communities.
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And how woven that is, right?
20:57
Whether it's quality of life or environmental health,
21:01
or our coastal economies.
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Uh, offshore drilling threatens all those things.
21:07
It threatens wildlife.
21:08
Uh, it threatens, uh, you know, the, the conditions of our Marine ecosystems.
21:14
Uh, it threatens public health with terrible air pollution.
21:18
Um, and it contributes to climate change, which, you know, we're
21:21
already losing our beaches.
21:23
We're already, um, you know, seeing the impacts around the globe with
21:27
just unbelievable, you know, heat and drought and extreme weather.
21:32
It's putting billions of people, uh, in harm's way.
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So for all these different things and, and whatever timescale you're, you're
21:41
looking at it, it really is, you know, like we said, uh, an existential threat.
21:47
Yeah, absolutely.
21:48
And, and I think what's interesting too is I think when a lot of us think about.
21:53
Offshore drilling, we think of these oil platforms, right?
21:57
These oil and gas platforms you see a lot in the Gulf of Mexico.
22:00
I used to work in the Gulf of Mexico for like eight months and I used to see there,
22:03
there's like a city of platforms that you see in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.
22:08
Uh, yeah.
22:08
And then you see them on the, uh, a little bit on the west coast,
22:11
definitely up in, in Alaska when the drilling was happening, uh, in quite
22:15
a, a bit of abundance back then.
22:18
But when you see them, you don't see the risk that they take.
22:22
You see sometimes the fire burning and you see the smoke billowing from
22:26
the sort of the, the, the, the working that, that like a working platform.
22:30
But you don't, when people think about that, I don't think a lot of people think
22:33
about the risk that could happen to those coastal communities, whether they can see
22:37
it from the coast or whether they can't.
22:39
We really don't under, I don't think we really understand as people,
22:42
even myself, when I look at that, it's the first thing I think of.
22:45
I don't think of what, what would happen if an oil spill would happen and it
22:50
would come up on the shores until we see like these big oil spills that happened.
22:55
You know?
22:55
Yeah.
22:55
Exxon Valdez happened in the eighties, I think it was the eighties.
22:59
Then of course, BP oil spill happened.
23:00
I'm sure there was a number of spills between that.
23:02
Um, And then of course there was the Santa Barbara spill in 2015 And then the one,
23:08
four years ago just off of Orange County.
23:11
We don't, why don't we, like, we don't think of those things when we
23:14
like communities, when we hear about offshore drilling, a lot of times
23:17
they're out of, out of the sight of eye from the, from the coastline.
23:21
Yeah.
23:21
But what do you think it is about these offshore drills that pose that threat?
23:25
'cause like, really each and every one of them can spill in a number of different
23:30
ways, in a number of different amounts.
23:32
Let's just say sometimes you may not see it, sometimes you, you will see it.
23:36
But like, you know, recently off the California coast.
23:40
We saw two that really reached, you know, the coastline.
23:43
Yeah.
23:44
And, and you know, and they really affected it, really brought it
23:46
home that these things can leak.
23:50
What do we not know about the oil and gas industry in terms of leaks
23:54
other than these, you know, the four major spills that I mentioned here.
23:57
I'm sure there was some other ones that I missed, but what is it that the
24:00
public doesn't know about these types of like that, about this happening?
24:04
Does it happen more often than not, than we think?
24:07
Yeah, I mean, oil spills happen all the time.
24:10
The smaller ones tend to be under-reported by the industry
24:15
and not covered by the media.
24:17
The larger ones can be catastrophic, uh, not just for the environment,
24:22
but for communities, for businesses.
24:25
Um, yeah, I I maybe there's a, a recency bias that, that people have.
24:31
But I can tell you as someone that lives in Orange County, that.
24:35
People remember the spill.
24:36
Uh, right.
24:37
You know, we just had a big people's hearing event, uh, in Costa Mesa,
24:41
and we had over a hundred people turn up, uh, including local officials who
24:46
remember the challenges of, of dealing with amplify energy and, you know,
24:51
their lack of forthrightness, uh, their failure to turn off the spigot, if you
24:57
will, while oil, you know, continued to flow into the Marine environment.
25:02
Uh, we had a woman who owns a, a charter fishing business and, and whale
25:07
watching company out of Dana Point.
25:09
She came and, and spoke out about it, And then emailed me the next day to let me
25:14
know that she'd submitted her own official letter to, to the federal government.
25:19
So.
25:20
Yeah.
25:20
When you see this stuff happen, uh, it, it's hard to forget.
25:23
Yeah.
25:24
Um, you know, the, the Orange County spill that was 25,000 gallons, which
25:29
is actually on the small end of Yeah.
25:31
Of what could have been much worse.
25:34
Mm-hmm.
25:34
And the, the, the weather conditions could have been worse in terms
25:37
of bringing the oil to shore.
25:39
But, you know, we still had our beaches closed for 10 days.
25:42
Mm-hmm.
25:43
Our fisheries were closed for a few months.
25:46
Um, you know, horrible impacts to the hotels and businesses, restaurants.
25:52
Um, you know, the official cleanup, uh, lasted over three months and,
25:56
you know, great response again by local agencies and, and trained
26:00
cleanup workers and, and volunteers.
26:02
But yeah, just, just a real mess.
26:05
And Yeah, know this is part of doing business for, you know, the oil and
26:10
gas industry in terms of, of offshore.
26:13
Well, I think it's, it's interesting how it's like.
26:16
One industry can affect so many other stakeholders.
26:20
And what I mean by stakeholders for our audience members is, you know,
26:23
the fishing community, the tourism community, the whale watching community,
26:26
the restaurants, you know, the, the, the people who, you know, beach goers.
26:31
And, and I mean like, let's be honest, California Coast probably has a high
26:35
highest percentage of beach goers.
26:37
You know, it's known for their beaches, it's known for that activity.
26:41
Um, it's a very important aspect to, to their.
26:44
You know, to just life, you know, in, in California, in certain
26:48
spots in, around the world.
26:50
And we, that's, I think, some of the things that we don't think about.
26:54
And for me it was the BP oil spill where I really started to seek, I think
26:58
I, because I lived in certain, like in, in Louisiana, Southern Louisiana
27:01
at the time, or, or right before that.
27:04
Where I started to realize how many people that I met there
27:07
that it was going to affect.
27:09
Yeah.
27:09
And I think that's just something that we don't think as, as citizens, as people
27:13
like in North America around the world, when we see these oil spills is who it's
27:17
going to affect, not just right then and there for an hour, for a day, for a
27:20
couple of weeks, but for months and years down the road, like BPO spill, which was
27:25
a huge catastrophe, probably one of the worst bills in the US if not the worst.
27:30
It's still affecting people.
27:31
It, you know, like it's still, and the dispersements that they use is even,
27:34
you know, we now know it's even worse.
27:36
It's just they, they're not to clean up the oil, but it's just there to literally
27:40
disperse the oil so you don't see it, you know, it sinks the oil to the,
27:43
to the, to the, the, the ocean floor.
27:46
So I think that's one thing that we just don.
27:49
Get as a people is that it?
27:50
When these things happen, they affect the, the, the people local to where it
27:55
happened for such a long period of time.
27:57
Even to the point where this spill for that, you're talking about Orange
28:00
County happened four years ago, having a people's hearing four years after,
28:04
and people can still remember it.
28:06
People can still say.
28:08
What's going on here?
28:10
Like why we're thinking about doing this again, we're thinking about doing this
28:13
more, uh, and coming out in droves to speak out, which is, which is fantastic,
28:19
and I think it's great that Surf Rider has that connection with the people
28:23
to help them amplify their message.
28:26
When you see people being affected like this.
28:32
What is what?
28:32
What is, what role does Surf Rider play, you know, in, because you guys are
28:37
so community driven, what role do you guys play as an organization in helping
28:43
people who are being affected by who?
28:47
Were affected by the, that Orange County Ospel?
28:49
Like what role did you play?
28:50
As for, from a surf writer perspective?
28:52
Roles, I guess I should say.
28:54
Yeah, I, I mean, it was really interesting because within 12, 18 hours of this
29:00
bill happening, we got just inundated with hundreds of people saying, I
29:05
wanna help, I wanna, you know, in some cases donate, which was great.
29:10
But in more cases saying, I wanna do something, I want
29:13
to be part of the cleanup.
29:15
And what made it really tricky is that oil is toxic.
29:19
You know, it's, it's highly.
29:21
Hazardous to human health.
29:23
Uh, but what we were able to do was develop a smartphone app to allow
29:29
volunteers to actually contribute to the cleanup without picking up the oil.
29:34
And so the way it works is, you know, the response area's basically from Los
29:39
Angeles all the way down to the San Diego border, which is over, over days
29:45
and weeks and ultimately months on end.
29:48
Depending on ocean conditions, you would continually get fresh
29:52
deposits of tar balls and oil on the beach in different locations.
29:57
And you had, as part of the unified command and the official cleanup, you had
30:01
these, you know, trained cleanup teams in hazmat suits, picking up the oil.
30:07
The, the really great thing about having the smartphone app is we had, you know.
30:12
Hundreds and hundreds of people using the app who are just going to the beach,
30:16
sort of, you know, either look for oil or maybe just part of their daily routine.
30:20
Mm-hmm.
30:21
Because that's their local beach.
30:23
And when they would spot oil, they take a photograph of the oil, it automatically
30:28
would upload not just the photo, but the, the date, the time, and the location.
30:34
So this would go into a crowdsource map to unified command.
30:38
And then they were able to sort of take that information real time and say,
30:43
okay, let's deploy our team to, um, you know, north of Huntington Beach tomorrow.
30:49
Mm-hmm.
30:49
Or, oh, it looks like, you know, we're getting, um, more
30:52
deposits down by Oceanside.
30:54
So, um, it was great to, to be able to contribute to the cleanup, but also give
31:00
people something they could do without putting their health in jeopardy by trying
31:05
to clean it up with their bare hands.
31:08
It's genius.
31:08
A again, it's the power of the people and just putting a, a device in, in the
31:12
device that everybody has and utilizing it for something that could really help.
31:15
And like you said, not put them in in harm's way.
31:18
'cause it could be very toxic.
31:19
It's, it's a not an easy thing to, to deal with.
31:22
It's very hazardous.
31:23
It's like hazardous material essentially.
31:25
Mm-hmm.
31:25
Um, I think it's interesting when we, again, talking about
31:31
oil, how does like these spills.
31:35
And just oil in general.
31:37
How does it affect the, sort of the long-term planning of, um, you know,
31:42
the, the, the beach access and recreation along, you know, for California along the
31:47
west coast, along the Gulf Coast, um, and even up in Alaska for different reasons.
31:52
But how does that, how does that affect that planning and, and,
31:56
and, and for those sort of areas?
32:00
Yeah, I mean, offshore drilling can impact beach access in a variety of ways.
32:06
One of course would be oil spills, right?
32:08
Yeah.
32:08
Where you have, Yeah, your beaches get closed.
32:10
Get closed, like you mentioned.
32:11
Yeah.
32:11
Um, you know, other ways just from the industrialization of the shoreline.
32:17
And so it's not in every community, but it's in someone's community
32:21
and you know where you have, uh, pipelines and refineries.
32:26
Petrochemical facilities and, and air pollution that doesn't lend itself
32:31
to either public beach use or all the economic and social benefits of that.
32:37
Uh, And then, you know, we of course have climate change And so mm-hmm.
32:41
Our beaches are getting squeezed right now with rising Seas.
32:45
And you know, particularly in places like California, you have increasing
32:50
coastal development pressure.
32:52
And so the beaches have nowhere, nowhere to go.
32:55
Um, right.
32:55
So yeah.
32:56
Part of that long-term solution is to stop pumping more greenhouse gases
33:02
into the atmosphere, try and restore our beaches, give them the opportunity
33:07
to migrate inland if they need, and, and use those nature-based solutions.
33:12
Yep.
33:12
And, and I'm speaking of that.
33:14
With climate change.
33:16
You look up in Alaska, obviously they're really feeling the effects of climate
33:21
change, probably more so than many other communities in North America.
33:25
Uh, you know, especially from an indigenous perspective.
33:29
I know in Canada there feel, you know, the indigenous, uh, um.
33:32
And nations are feeling it as well.
33:35
Uh, I've saw, I've seen videos of people complain that the permafrost is getting
33:39
is is like the, the, the amount of flooding they get just from the permafrost
33:43
'cause it's, it's melting into their homes on a daily basis is ridiculous.
33:47
I can just imagine what the coastline's looking at to, And then to add, you know,
33:53
offshore drilling as an extra, you know.
33:57
Yeah.
33:58
Seems like it's not helping those communities in, in one bit.
34:02
Um.
34:03
Have you, like, does Surf Rider have a presence up in Alaska in
34:07
terms of chapters and, um, working with indigenous people up there?
34:14
Yeah, we have, uh, a small but mighty chapter in Alaska on the K and I
34:19
Peninsula Um, So, uh, you know, we, we don't have a ton going on up there.
34:25
Yeah.
34:26
We did just have, you know, within Surf Rider, um, you know, these regional
34:31
drilling strategy calls mm-hmm.
34:33
To talk about the Gulf, talk about California, And then also to
34:37
talk about Alaska and the Arctic.
34:39
And so, right.
34:40
We are doing, we, we do have a much stronger presence in, uh,
34:45
Seattle, uh, and Washington State.
34:47
And so we are doing outreach with the Port of Seattle and.
34:52
The fishing fleets there because they are very much dependent on healthy
34:57
Marine ecosystems for their fisheries.
34:59
So they're not a fan of this.
35:02
Um, yeah, I can't imagine.
35:03
And I have, have done some, uh, some interviews, some media, um, you know,
35:09
stuff, uh, uh, up in Alaska as well.
35:11
But I mean, in the case of Alaska, it's, you know, talk about the
35:16
worst pace to, to drill for oil.
35:18
I mean, you have extreme weather, you have.
35:21
Um, you know, storm activity, some of the most difficult conditions
35:27
to try and respond to an oil spill.
35:30
Uh, And then you have, you know, these highly sensitive, you know,
35:34
particularly as you go up to the, the high arctic, just, um, unbelievable.
35:39
Yeah.
35:40
Yeah.
35:40
You know, Marine season.
35:41
Yeah.
35:41
It's horrible.
35:42
Like it's a, it could be a horrible environment to work in.
35:46
Uh, Yeah.
35:46
You know, the water's below, below zero centigrade a lot of the times.
35:50
Yeah.
35:51
Uh, you know, there's ice you have to deal with.
35:54
There's, um, the freezing cold winds, uh, it, the, the wave action
35:59
obviously is, is very difficult.
36:02
Going back to, uh, I mentioned, uh, the Obama administration put in some.
36:08
Restrictions in, in drilling along, I believe it was the north, that North
36:13
Slope, is that what it's called?
36:15
The North Slope?
36:15
Right.
36:16
Well, it was actually the, the Boer and Chuck Chi Seas.
36:19
Right, right.
36:21
So I was on Anwar on land there, you know?
36:24
Yeah.
36:25
Was protections put in place too.
36:27
But yeah.
36:27
So how can those plans be put in place if they're not allowed?
36:31
And I remember that rule or that law was pretty.
36:35
Strict in terms of who and what can be done in terms of drilling in that area.
36:40
How can they propose offshore drilling when there was already, uh, a law in place
36:46
that would, would ban it from happening?
36:50
Well, there's ongoing litigation to try and determine that, so, okay.
36:55
That's, that's my first answer as a non-lawyer.
36:57
But, um, yeah.
36:59
You know, right now in terms of the current federal Prosple.
37:03
They are, uh, in their draft plan looking at, uh, oil and
37:07
gas leasing, uh, in those areas, including the Beaufort and Chuck gc.
37:12
Yeah, I think it's really interesting how they keep proposing these spots
37:17
where there is already legislation, as we mentioned before, and from Obama,
37:22
Obama, the Biden administration, where they said you can't, and they're
37:25
still putting in plans to get there.
37:27
Hopefully.
37:28
I guess they just hope that.
37:29
People don't take 'em to court and they don't fight it, and they can
37:32
just continue to do it, even though at this point it's considered illegal.
37:35
It'll be interesting to see, uh, what happens with those court, uh,
37:40
proceedings typically, how long do those types of court proceedings go on for?
37:45
Like, will this be a decision that's, I mean, I know it was only
37:47
released like three weeks ago.
37:49
Yeah.
37:50
Is this like something that'll take years, do you think, to litigate
37:52
or, I know you're not a lawyer, so I don't want to give you Yeah.
37:55
I know this is not like professional, but like just in your experience, do
37:57
these take a long time to litigate and that can that delay the process?
38:03
Yeah, I mean, we expect these cases to play out over a number of years, so Okay.
38:08
Particularly the legal challenges that relate to the Trump administration.
38:13
Revoking.
38:14
Yeah.
38:14
The Biden protections, so right.
38:17
I, yeah, and the way I would characterize it is, you know, this, this legal work
38:22
and, and the litigation, it's fundamental.
38:25
It, it's so foundational to, to, to do everything that we can in this effort.
38:31
Absolutely.
38:31
To lean on our existing federal laws and policies.
38:35
But at the same time, I don't think there's any quick fix here.
38:38
So, right.
38:39
You know, we, we have our legal department and we have, you know,
38:43
a number of other groups that.
38:45
Uh, are working closely together on this, on these legal strategies, but, um, it
38:51
is certainly, at least in the short and midterm, it is not a replacement for the
38:57
public involvement and the, the community advocacy that, um, is really, I think,
39:03
our best chance to protect our coasts.
39:06
Absolutely.
39:07
A lot of times the argument for, uh, oil and drilling for oil is it brings in jobs.
39:13
Right.
39:13
We, you know, that's something that is a big, a big thing.
39:16
It's like, yeah, well we're gonna bring in local jobs, people
39:18
can go work there, it's great.
39:20
But there are other stakeholders along the coastlines that provide more jobs.
39:27
Yeah.
39:27
So something like in the Gulf, you know, you have tourism and fishing.
39:31
Employ more people than oil in in the Gulf, which is saying
39:37
something because there's a lot of oil that goes off in the Gulf.
39:39
So why do you think there's always that argument of like, oil
39:43
provides jobs, but why are those jobs more important than the jobs?
39:49
Knowing that what an oil spill can do, especially in the
39:52
Gulf, why are those typically.
39:55
You know, prioritized over jobs of fishing and tourism and all
40:00
these other different things that can happen along the coastline.
40:04
Yeah, I mean, I, I can't tell you why the federal administration would
40:07
prioritize that, but I mean, I think that's why offshore drilling is so
40:12
unpopular because yeah, whatever region you're looking at from the
40:16
Florida Gulf to Alaska's fisheries to.
40:20
California's beach economy.
40:22
Uh, it doesn't pencil out.
40:24
It's like, why would you put at risk hundreds of of billion do,
40:28
uh, billions of dollars of economic revenue from recreation, from tourism,
40:33
from fishing, uh, you know, all the, the visits, the, the trip related
40:39
expenditures of why people live and, and visit our nation's coastlines.
40:45
Uh, in so many ways are connected to a clean, coastal environment, so, right.
40:50
Yeah.
40:50
I, the, the promise of saying, well, we're gonna add some jobs,
40:53
it's like, well, how many jobs are you gonna put at risk, you know?
40:58
Yeah.
40:58
And communities and, and, you know, ways of life really for, you know,
41:02
the people who live in that region.
41:04
I think that's a strong narrative and argument against oil and gas.
41:09
I really do.
41:10
Yeah.
41:10
I don't find that I hear it enough to make that argument.
41:15
'cause you know, everybody's worried about the economy.
41:17
It seems like the economy always takes over the environment, unfortunately,
41:20
even though those go hand in hand.
41:22
And a lot of the times when we talk about tourism and, and, And so forth.
41:26
But it's, it's, I find a lot of the times, you know, the economy,
41:29
like that argument for the economy.
41:31
Should be really uplifting in terms of even marketing from a nonprofit being
41:36
like, if you work in an area that, you know, demands a, a clean coastline, you
41:40
do not want oil and gas, uh, to happen.
41:44
Um, yeah, and, and I feel like this, it kind of shows the disconnect.
41:49
That this administration has with the people, as you mentioned, you
41:53
know, people are, are very, again, not many people are for oil drilling.
41:57
Um mm-hmm.
41:58
On, and it doesn't matter.
41:59
This is a, a bipartisan issue in terms of the people, but it, it seems as
42:04
though the people representing them are really staunch on promoting this So.
42:12
This is one of those things where when, you know science communicators like
42:16
myself, when people are trying to speak out, scientists, conservationists,
42:20
people who love the ocean, this is not a, a partisan issue, right?
42:25
This is a environmental issue.
42:28
This is a people issue.
42:29
Uh, and, and the focus, if we focus on that instead of the political side of it.
42:36
In your experience, do you find there's more success in.
42:40
Turning that tide.
42:42
Yeah, I think that's very well said.
42:44
And you know, to what you were talking about in terms of, you know, showcasing
42:49
that business opposition, uh, surf Rider has a sign the surfboard project that
42:54
is ongoing on different coasts where basically it's a surfboard that is
42:58
traveling, uh, south to north, and it's getting signed by coastal businesses, so
43:05
by restaurant owners, by surf shop owners.
43:08
By, uh, chambers of Commerce and we actually did this project during
43:14
the first Trump administration.
43:16
We still have the surfboard, uh, in our headquarters.
43:18
It's covered with signatures.
43:20
I can imagine all these business owners.
43:22
We took the surfboard to Washington, DC we, uh, paraded
43:26
around to to members of Congress.
43:29
We actually was small enough you could fit through the X-ray
43:31
machines to get into Congress.
43:34
Uh, And then we met with the Trump administration.
43:36
We organized the business round table and had executives from the
43:41
outdoor industry, from the surf industry, from, um, you know, chambers
43:46
of Commerce in North Carolina.
43:49
And had a good discussion both with, um, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
43:55
and the Department of Interior.
43:57
And for those who remember during the first Trump administration, they
44:01
were trying to do the same thing.
44:03
Same thing.
44:03
Open up, uh, virtually all US coasts.
44:06
To offshore drilling, and they ended up, uh, just sort of abandoning the plan.
44:11
They never got around to finishing it, so there was no big announcement.
44:15
Um, but I think, you know, this was really the, the success that
44:21
came from community speaking out.
44:24
Yeah.
44:24
You know, the, the sign, the surfboard project was just one piece of that.
44:28
Yeah.
44:28
The, the, the bigger pieces were the hundreds of, of local government
44:32
resolutions that got passed or.
44:35
You know, elevating tens of thousands of businesses, uh, through these business
44:40
alliances of saying they don't want this.
44:43
And really, you know, building that bipartisan opposition
44:47
from the local level up.
44:48
Yeah.
44:49
To the point where, you know, I, I, I wasn't part of those meetings behind
44:54
closed doors with, with the Trump administration, but you can only assume
44:58
they just did a political calculation that said no one wants this, including.
45:03
You know, other members of our party.
45:06
So let's work on something else.
45:07
So the silver lining with this is there is a, a pathway to victory if Yeah.
45:14
If we build a movement that's big enough.
45:16
If, if we spread the word and we get not just environmental groups,
45:22
but, but businesses, local electeds, you know, state representatives
45:26
speaking out about this mm-hmm.
45:29
Um, we can win this.
45:30
I, I do believe it.
45:32
I, I believe it as well.
45:33
I think you really hit the nail on the head too, but really
45:36
focusing on the local aspect too.
45:38
'cause if you, if you think about it, there is this sort of like this vastness
45:44
and um, this, this feeling of, of, I can't control the federal government.
45:50
Yeah, because it's so overarching and you know, we know, you know,
45:54
the, this administration has a lot of power more than other administrations,
45:59
And so there's a worry there.
46:00
There's this feeling of this like, you know, it's just, it's just like, okay,
46:04
like I guess this is what's gonna happen.
46:06
Oh my gosh.
46:06
Like we could be depressed about it or we could do something about it.
46:10
And I love that.
46:11
Again, and this is why I love having surf Rider on why and why I love having.
46:14
People like yourself on Pete, because you talk about not just as
46:18
an individual speaking up and doing the public commenting, but also.
46:22
Start talking to local officials, right?
46:25
And they pass, you know, regulations and resolutions to not have
46:30
oil in their municipalities, in their cities, in their counties.
46:35
And then that goes up And then they start, And then they start to.
46:38
Like the federal government starts to see the barriers just piling up and
46:42
up and up and like, they'd be stuck in litigation probably for the rest, you
46:47
know, for like 30 years down the road.
46:48
If they really wanted to try and, and, and overpower everybody, they, they just
46:51
can't because the mechanisms in place.
46:54
And I think again, that's another thing that doesn.
46:57
And when we talk about what we can do, it doesn't get talked about unless you're
47:00
maybe part of the Surf Rider organization, the volunteer network, because you, this
47:05
is like what you guys have been doing all this time and why you and the partners and
47:08
collaborators have been so effective in stopping these things from happening or
47:13
slowing them down or making people think.
47:15
Or maybe people have to go to court because you're just like.
47:18
We will do everything we can as long as we have the power of the people and
47:22
the people are speaking out and what they want, not of what they've been told
47:25
they want, but what they actually want.
47:28
That makes a difference.
47:29
I feel like, you know, I think that that makes a huge, huge difference.
47:33
So focusing on the local, building up those resolutions within municipal
47:37
government, talking to counselors, talking to county members, you know, whatever that
47:41
structure might be in wherever you live.
47:44
Is gonna be super important, and that's something that you actually have direct.
47:49
That's what I love about it.
47:50
You have a direct influence on, you know, 'cause like a lot of, like, I know my
47:54
city counselor, you know, I, I, I know her, I interact with her, you know, we
47:58
see her all the time, like out and around in, in the, in the, in the town that
48:02
we live in, the city that we live in.
48:03
And some people may have access and some people may not, but.
48:06
You know, that's the power of democracy.
48:08
That's the power of what you can do in the US and and from outside.
48:12
I think we're seeing it with deep sea mining, and I think we're gonna
48:15
see it with, with oil and gas in this plan Um, So I love that aspect.
48:19
So, to, to give one last thing to, to people, like one last strategy
48:24
to people or, or, or one last sort of like, encouragement to people.
48:28
The people who are listening here who may have felt.
48:32
Just exasperated by everything that's happening.
48:35
What, what is the advice that you give them and, and that, that
48:39
Surf Rider gives them to encourage them to continue the fight, to
48:43
continue to act for a better ocean?
48:46
Well, I think it's important to know what you're fighting for.
48:49
If you're always just fighting against something, I think
48:52
that that's hard to sustain.
48:54
Uh, yeah, just mentally.
48:56
Uh, and, and, and physically.
48:58
And so for me, I, I think you do have to keep the joy.
49:01
And I think the reason why we get such amazing volunteers, and we get
49:06
so much done at Surf Rider is people wanna be a part of something positive.
49:12
And yeah.
49:13
And I think, and and I, I've been doing this for 20 years, but I'm the same way.
49:18
Sometimes I just need to leave my computer and go do a beach cleanup.
49:22
For an hour and it's likeor completely.
49:26
Yeah.
49:26
Yeah.
49:27
Re resettles things in, in my head.
49:30
So, yeah, you know, o obviously we're facing some really, really huge challenges
49:37
when it comes to our ocean, but I think, you know, being part of, uh, of a network
49:42
that's doing great things locally.
49:45
And then also being, you know, in, in a place where you can plug in to the
49:49
power of a national network and all the coalition partners and communities,
49:54
um, because there is real power there.
49:57
And that's, that's how we're gonna win is, is by continuing to grow the movement.
50:02
Absolutely.
50:02
I have to, I have to admit, something personal that happened to me is I
50:06
joined an advocacy community online.
50:10
And these are people, you know, some people I know, some
50:12
people I met through this.
50:13
It was like a a, a WhatsApp group and it's a bunch of science
50:16
communicators that get together.
50:17
It's, it's, it's monitored and, and, and, and kind of like run a lot of the
50:22
times or organized by, uh, the people at Future Swell, Alex and, and Carissa Berra.
50:26
Yeah.
50:26
You know, wonderful.
50:27
You probably know them, that you've probably worked with them before.
50:29
Mm-hmm.
50:30
Um, and, and it made me feel, you know, like, like there's
50:33
multiple people doing stuff.
50:34
We're collaborating to do stuff and I feel like surf riders the same thing.
50:38
When people get together, you, people are like-minded in terms
50:42
of they want one thing, they're come from different backgrounds,
50:44
different parts of the country.
50:45
Mm-hmm.
50:45
You know, they're all over international, here in Canada.
50:49
And you feel that, that, that comradery, you feel that connection and you feel
50:54
that power of surf rider to give you the resources to help out to do something.
50:59
So if people wanting, like listening to this episode and be like, Ooh, no, no.
51:03
Pete and And/or have hit the nail in the head here.
51:05
I wanna be a part of this.
51:06
How can they get involved with, uh, with Surf Rider as a, as a volunteer?
51:13
I mean, the easiest way is just go to Surf Rider Foundation, you know, look
51:17
it up online and you can connect a course with our national page and plug
51:23
into our Drilling is Killing campaign.
51:25
So within uh, seconds, you know, you can take action and submit a comment to
51:31
the federal government on this issue.
51:33
Uh, but you can also find your local chapter or your local
51:36
student club and get involved.
51:39
And, you know, I think one of the great things about Surf Rider
51:42
is, is as a volunteer you can pick what you wanna do, you know?
51:46
Yeah.
51:46
Some people wanna organize events and go to city council meetings.
51:50
Other people are like, no, I'm, I'm an introvert, you know, I just wanna,
51:53
you know, do a beach cleanup or Right.
51:56
Or help with the flyers, or something like that.
51:58
And so.
52:00
That's what's neat is, is you can join that community and just figure
52:03
out, you know, where, where is it that you wanna plug in and, and
52:08
you know, how can you contribute?
52:10
I love this.
52:10
Pete, I wanna thank you so much.
52:12
Not only for coming on the podcast and sharing, uh, this valuable information,
52:16
but also the work that you and Surf writer have been doing for the last 20 years.
52:20
Plus, um, you know, we, we appreciate everything that you've done.
52:24
Um, probably stuff that we don't even know about, you know what I mean?
52:27
Like, there's been so much you've been a part of.
52:28
Uh, I wanna thank you for the work that you continue to do and
52:31
the work that you've done in the past, especially with Surf Riders.
52:33
So thank you so much, uh, for coming on the podcast.
52:36
Really appreciate it.
52:36
Love to have you back on to talk more ocean conservation.
52:40
Well, thank you, and/or.
52:41
Yeah, real pleasure.
52:42
And thanks for all you're doing to get the word out.
52:44
Thank you, Peter, for joining us on today's episode of the How
52:47
to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
52:48
It was great to be able to get context on things that have happened in the
52:52
past with oil and gas, especially with that oil spill that came to the
52:55
shores of Orange County, California.
52:57
I think it really reminisces on how much.
52:59
Oil spills happen and how often, and we don't realize, a lot of times it doesn't
53:03
come to the shore, but this just happened four years ago in 2021 with Orange County,
53:07
and people were devastated even to the fact that people come four years later
53:11
to a public meeting to say, Hey, we do not want offshore drilling anymore.
53:15
We do not want.
53:16
Offshore oil drilling because it is going to affect our business.
53:19
It's gonna affect our livelihoods.
53:21
It's not just about oil and energy anymore.
53:24
It's about how it affects the people of the us, how it affects the people that
53:29
depend on the economies of the ocean.
53:32
Right, and this is something that goes across the us.
53:35
It's the common denominator around all of this is the people.
53:38
And if we want to protect the people, we need to protect the
53:41
ocean from offshore oil drilling.
53:43
And so that was great to be able to have Pete on to talk about
53:45
how it affects those communities.
53:47
And I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
53:49
Let me know in the comments below if you're watching this on YouTube or if
53:52
you go to speak up for blue.com/feedback.
53:55
You could let me know of your comments there.
53:57
I would love to hear what you have to say.
53:59
There's other places where you can leave comments.
54:01
If you're listening on Spotify, leave a comment.
54:03
We actually have comments.
54:04
I'll reply to it 'cause I checked those as well.
54:07
There's so many ways we can engage.
54:08
This is about community building.
54:10
This is about saying, Hey, as a community we can stop this stuff.
54:13
We can put in public comment, we can talk to influential people
54:16
that we may know in our lives.
54:18
We can join Surf Rider as a volunteer and work in within their internal organization
54:23
to be like, Hey, how do we stop this?
54:25
There's so many things that you can do.
54:27
Work with Oceania, work with a surf rider.
54:29
There's just so many things that you can do, And then just speak up for yourself.
54:32
That's the greatest power that you have in a democracy.
54:35
So I would love to hear your thoughts on this, comments down below.
54:39
Go to speak up for blue.com/feedback so you can hear your comments.
54:42
I'll even publish them at some points if you're okay with it.
54:45
I wanna thank Pete for joining me on today's episode.
54:47
I wanna thank you for listening and I wanna just thank you.
54:50
This is awesome.
54:51
I love hearing from people, I love engaging with people.
54:54
It's the why I decided to do this science communication thing in the first place.
54:58
And so it's just great to have you on this episode of the How
55:01
to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
55:03
I'm your host, Angela.
55:04
From the true North, strong and free.
55:05
Have a great day.
55:06
We'll talk to you next time and help you conservation.