Mass Ocean Campaign: Take Action

Call to Action: Urge Your Representative to Help Pass the Ocean Act Today!

The Massachusetts Ocean Act (S. 2346) is needed to give public agencies clear direction, improved communications between agencies, and better informed decisions for managing activities within the state waters of the Commonwealth.

Send Your Message Today! Here’s How:

First, locate the name and contact information of your state representative, if you do not already know, by visiting:

Second, check to see if your representative is already a co-sponsor deserving of your thanks:

AN ACT RELATIVE TO COMPREHENSIVE OCEAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Sponsored by: Senator Robert O’Leary (D-Barnstable)

Co-Sponsors:

House

Rep. Will Brownsberger (D - Belmont)
Rep. Christine Canavan (D - Brockton)
Rep. Steven D’Amico (D - Seekonk)
Rep. Christopher Fallon (D - Malden)
Rep. Mary Grant (D - Beverly)
Rep. Denis Guyer (D - Dalton)
Rep. Bradford Hill (R - Ipswich)
Rep. John Keenan (D - Salem)
Rep. Peter Kocot (D - Northampton)
Rep. Robert Koczera (D - New Bedford)
Rep. Steven Kulik (D - South Deerfield)
Rep. Barbara L’Italien (D - Andover)
Rep. James Marzilli (D - Arlington)
Rep. James Murphy (D - Weymouth)
Rep. Matthew Patrick (D - Falmouth)
Rep. Doug Petersen (D - Lynn)
Rep. Denise Provost (D - Somerville)
Rep. Michael Rush (D - Boston)
Rep. Tom Sannicandro (D - Ashland)
Rep. Frank Smizik (D - Brookline)
Rep. Benjamin Swan (D - Springfield)
Rep. Anthony Verga (D - Gloucester)
Rep. Martha Walz (D - Boston)

Senate
Sen. Ed Augustus (D - Worcester)
Sen. Jarrett Barrios (D - Cambridge)
Sen. Robert Creedon (D - Brockton)
Sen. Cynthia Creem (D - Newton)
Sen. Susan Fargo (D - Lincoln)
Sen. Mark Montigny (D - New Bedford)
Sen. Therese Murray (D - Plymouth)
Sen. Marc Pacheco (D - Taunton)
Sen. Pamela Resor (D - Acton)
Sen. Bruce Tarr (R - Gloucester)

Third, urge your state representative to support the Massachusetts Oceans Act (S. 2346).

Sample Letter of Support

The following is a sample letter to your representative. Personal, signed letters have ten times the impact of email messages or postcards. To attract your state representative’s attention and support, we urge you to:

Copy and paste the below text into a text editor such as Word.
Customize the sample communication by adding personal details including your home address.
Print, add your hand-written signature, and send by U.S. mail.

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Date

The Honorable (name)
State House
Boston, MA 02133

RE: S. 2346, An Act Relative to Oceans

Dear Representative (name),

I am concerned with recent proposals for liquefied natural gas terminals, sand and gravel mining, desalinization plants, gas pipelines, telecommunications cables, and wind energy facilities. Ocean developments have raised numerous concerns among local, state, and federal agencies. The current approach to addressing these proposals on a reactive, ad hoc basis is woefully inadequate for the Commonwealth. We can do better.

The Massachusetts Ocean Act (S. 2346) calls for making an ocean management plan that would govern ocean development activities and foster environmentally sustainable uses in Massachusetts waters, while protecting valuable marine resources.

Guided by the best available scientific understanding of ocean resources and ecosystems, as provided through research, mapping, monitoring, and other data collection, state decision makers will be able to identify and capitalize on opportunities to encourage desirable development in locations that are well suited for it, while guarding against inappropriate and wasteful development and protecting the marine ecosystem.

I urge you to support passage of the S. 2346, Massachusetts Ocean Act, to strengthen the Commonwealth’s authority to manage public trust resources in a proactive manner.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

(your name)

(# Street)
(Town, ST zipcode)
(optional: home tel #)