Invasive Species Update - Spring 2008
Program Updates
Clean Energy
Clean Vehicles
Food & Agriculture
Global Warming
Invasive Species
Nuclear Weapons & Global Security
Scientific Integrity
In April, UCS activists urged their representatives to protect our nation’s waters from aquatic invasive species by voting in favor of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2008. With their help—even when faced with a veto threat from the president—the bill passed the House in a landslide victory, 395 to 7!
Ships often fill up their tanks with ocean water to balance their loads, picking up and transporting plants and animals with the water. When ships arrive from foreign ports and empty this ballast water, they are potentially introducing thousands of non-native species into our waters.
Ballast water is one of the last unregulated water pollutants. “Title V” of the bill, the Ballast Water Treatment Act of 2008, requires that ships treat ballast water before dumping it, along with huge numbers of live organisms, in port or into the ocean. A set of strengthening amendments that improve upon these measures also passed! An important one ensures transparency by making ships’ ballast treatment records available to public requests under the Freedom of Information Act.
Now that this important bill has passed the House, we are working on even stronger and clearer amendments and will shape the action in the Senate. Stay tuned in the weeks ahead for the chance to help repeat our House victory in the Senate.
