Mar 24 - Advocates Join Forces in Sacramento for Ocean Day

Today, dozens of environmental groups from across the state, along with students and other advocates, came together in Sacramento to talk about ocean protection issues on the annual Ocean Day.

Among the bills discussed were SB 270--the state's plastic bag ban, AB 1699--the plastic microbead bill, and other bills and actions related to recycled water, water quality monitoring, offshore fracking, sea level rise, and marine protected areas.

The day ended with a reception where California Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird and Monterey Bay Aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard spoke about the importance of ocean conservation to a packed room full of legislators, environmental advocates, and state agency staff.

Just last week, CNN reported that the amount of debris in our oceans (most of which comes from land) is so immense, it is impacting the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines jet.