CHANGE MY LOCATION
Woman fights for oceans’ health by paddling her message 500 miles to Congress using canoe
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Some people e-mail their congressional officials about legislation.
But Margo Pellegrino is collecting messages from people as she paddles her canoe 500 miles to Washington D.C. to support HR 21, dubbed Oceans 21, a bill that would require federal agencies to work together and clean the oceans.
“Our oceans are a national treasure and resource, and abusing them is like blowing through money in a bank,” Pellegrino said.
On the way, she stopped Tuesday at the Baltimore National Aquarium to collect messages, and so far she has about 50 that are stuffed into bottles and will be delivered to individual congressmen.
She launched June 30 from Beach Haven, N.J., and will arrive Wednesday on Capitol Hill.
Oceans 21 would establish a national policy for cleaning up the oceans, which have seen increasing levels of pollution. Pellegrino said responsibility for keeping the oceans clean has been split among many different federal agencies.
The bill would create a national oceans adviser position and establish a trust fund for conserving the oceans. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill by the end of the summer. The proposal passed the House Natural Resources Subcommittee in April.
U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes, D-District 3, which includes parts of Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, is among 70 co-sponsors of the bill.
“We spend a lot of time here in Maryland focusing on the Chesapeake Bay, but our incentive to clean up the Bay will be enhanced if the oceans are cleaner” because they are connected, Sarbanes said.
He praised Pellegrino’s efforts, saying her actions were part of a larger trend of citizen involvement in politics. The oceans are clearly in danger, said David Nemerson, a conservation biologist at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and the bill would be a step forward for their health.
According to the proposal, the oceans are under threat from global climate change, chemical, nutrient, and biological pollution, overfishing, and unwise land use.
“There’s no overarching governance for ocean health the way there is with the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts,” Nemerson said.
This past summer Pellegrino paddled 2,000 miles from Miami to Maine to increase awareness about the health of the oceans, partly by blogging about her journey.
She said she was first inspired after her 20-year high school reunion in 2005, when she wanted to find a cause that would make a difference.
Sara Chasis, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council and a sponsor of Pellegrino, pointed to Sarbanes’ recent support as proof that Pellegrino’s mission was working. Pellegrino said part of her mission is to inspire her 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter to fight for environmental health.
Being away from home has been hard, she said, but worth it.
“I think [my son] is proud of me,” she said. “I’m far from a perfect mother, but I’ll fight tooth and nail for my kids and to make the world a better place for them.”
carrie.wells@baltimoreexaminer.com
