President-elect Barack Obama has appointed Oregon State University professor Jane Lubchenco, one of the nation's most prominent marine biologists, to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

Lubchenco, a conservationist who has devoted much of her career to encouraging scientists to become more engaged in public policy debates, is also an advocate for curbing greenhouse gases linked to global warming.  She is also a Trustee of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and a Trustee Emerita of the David and Lucile Packard Foudation.  The appointment marks a shift for NOAA, which oversees marine policy (including the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary) as well as much of government's climate work.  Lubchenco has criticized the agency in the past for not doing enough to curb overfishing. 

Looking for sponsors, venders and volunteer help!

Earth Day Santa Cruz 2009 will  take place on April 18th at  the San Lorenzo Park Benchlands.
Once again the County of Santa Cruz, the City of Santa Cruz, local non-profits, and concerned
citizens are working together to make Earth Day 2009 the premier environmental event for the
greater Santa Cruz community, with educational information, activities for kids, live music and
a focus on green businesses. Come help make this a great event!
For information go to www.ecocruz.org and contact Amy Gross at (831) 477-3988
or email amy.gross@co.santa-cruz.ca.us

The National Resource Defence Council maintains a great page on Oil, Energy, Renewable Technologies, and Drilling found here. Here is text from a PDF published by the NRDC:

[NRDC - The Destructive Consequences of Offshore Drilling: Offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) could do serious, irreparable damage to our oceans, coastal communities, and marine life.  Some consequences of drilling in the OCS include:

On July 14th President George W. Bush lifted the executive ban on offshore oil drilling. Save Our Shores is following this issue closely and will be mobilizing its constituents to contact state and federal elected officials to protect our shores from offshores oil drilling.

If you are in the California 17th District please call U.S. Representative Sam Farr and tell him that you do not want to have the Congressional Moratorium on Offshore Oil Drilling lifted and that the Federal Government should promote better energy alternatives for two reasons: to reduce demand for imported oil, and to reduce carbon-emissions.

Surprisingly Representative Sam Farr has been recieving calls of support for Offshore Oil drilling!

SOS urges all its constituents to CALL REPRESENTATIVE SAM FARR TODAY and have your VOICE HEARD!

Thanks to all who attended our panel discussion on desalination. The public heard from an array of experts including Bill Kocher the Director of the Santa Cruz Water Department,  Shauna Potocky the Visitor Hall and Volunteer Services Manager for the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, Mike Rotkin a member of the Santa Cruz City Council and the City of Santa Cruz/Soquel Creek Water District Desalination Project Committee, Sarah Corbin the Central California Regional Manager for Surfrider Foundation, and Conner Everts the Executive Director of the Southern California Watershed Alliance and Co-Chair of the Desalination Response Group at Environment Now.

Follow up Questions:

Email your support for underwater state parks, or speak your mind on April 22 or 23 in San Rafael. California is in the process of creating Marine Protected Areas along the North Central coast, from Half Moon Bay to Point Arena. These underwater state parks and wilderness sites will help protect diverse habitats and let fish and marine wildlife thrive. On April 23, the Governor's Blue Ribbon Task Force will recommend a network of protected areas for our coastal waters.

We need your help to make sure they choose the best plan that includes the most important places along our coast — Package 4, which gets the highest marks from scientists and provides the highest level of protection to special places like the rocky reefs along the Sonoma Coast, seabird nesting areas at Point Reyes, historic Fitzgerald Marine Park and the Farallon Islands. Package 4 offers the most protection to the best places in the region, while still allowing small boat fishermen access to the sea to sustain traditional fisheries. Designed with input from local residents, conservationists, and fishermen, Package 4 offers California a true ocean legacy.

Thank you to those that participated in Save Our Shores' Ocean Leadership Conference! We received valuable feedback and hope to continue our dialogue with Coastside residents in regards to what types of Save Our Shores programs and resources would best fit your community needs.

Please take a look at the feedback that we recieved from the Conference (below). Some of the Conference participants along with Save Our Shores staff will be hosting a Creek Cleanup effort at Pilarcitos Creek on May 17th from 9am-1pm in order to address the marine derbis problem. This event  will mark the first of many collaborative efforts between Coastside residents and Save Our Shores staff.

Oceans need our help now more than ever! Declining fisheries, increasing quantities of marine debris, and oil and toxins polluting near shore waters are just a few of the threats facing our oceans today.  Save Our Shores is holding an Ocean Leadership Conference on March 12-22 for Coastside communities in the Half Moon Bay area!  Participants will learn about current marine conservation issues such as Marine Protected Areas, marine debris, and local coastal watersheds.  Presentations will be given by Bob Breen, Brenda Donald, Dan Temko and other members of the Coastside communities.

The conference will also provide hands-on tools for empowering participants to become advocates for healthy oceans.  After the conference, participants will work with Save Our Shores staff to assess the needs of Coastside communities and then design and implement activities to engage their community in ocean conservation.