Republicans Go Coastal On Ocean Acidification
Yesterday, the majority of members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a resolution urging support for research and global cooperation to combat ocean acidification, a scientifically verified side effect of high carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. H. Res 989, introduced by Jay Inslee still didn’t pass, though. The required vote for passage was two-thirds.
The legislation was killed by a group of 20 right-wing Democrats. Over half of them were members of the Blue Dog coalition. Almost all of them are from inland areas. Only two of these Democrats represent coastal districts. These Democrats didn’t see that they had anything to lose by voting for inaction on ocean acidification. The problem isn’t in their back yard, and so they’re not so worried about it.
An opposite pattern hints at what motivated many 19 Republicans to cross the aisle and vote in favor of the ocean acidification resolution. 15 of these Republicans come from states that border the ocean. Ocean acidification threatens molluscs, crustaceans and corals, by interfering with their ability to absorb minerals from sea water from which they build their shells and skeletons. If these animals perish, the entire ecology of the ocean world is put at risk. It seems that the economic reality of endangered seafood populations that their constituents depend upon enables these Republicans to place science over ideology.
