From Senator Kevin Ranker’s office
On Jan. 15, state legislators from across the country announced the formation of the Caucus of Coastal State Legislators (CCSL) to address pressing economic, resource and environmental issues facing US coastal states. Washington State Senator Kevin Ranker was elected caucus chair at a December meeting in San Diego.
“As we face the challenges of global climate change, a long road to economic recovery and increasingly competitive resource development scenarios, it’s critical for coastal states to cooperate and develop long-range strategies,” Ranker said. “We’ve already heard a lot of good ideas from caucus members, and I’m anxious to work with my coastal state colleagues.”
President Barack Obama’s Ocean Policy Task Force was a catalyst for the formation of the CCSL, and one of the caucus’ first actions will be to develop a close working relationship with the Administration. In addition, the caucus will serve as a point of contact for regional and federal agencies, and the US Congress. Other specific goals will be determined as the caucus continues to meet.
Other caucus leaders include: Alaska House Minority Leader Representative Beth Kerttula, Oregon State Senator Jackie Dingfelder, New Hampshire State Representative Renny Cushing, and Maryland State Delegate James Hubbard.
“With more coastline than the rest of the country combined, and critical world-class fisheries, Alaskans are always concerned about coastal and marine issues,” said Kerttula. “I’m honored to work with such a dynamic group of public servants on issues of such importance to the entire country.”
“Any time we can share ideas across regions like this it’s going to produce good results,” said Hubbard, who is also the president of the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL). “We each have a stake in the protection and responsible development of our coastal areas, but local coastal decisions often have global consequences – cooperation and communication always generate opportunities.”
The bi-partisan group has initial representation from state legislators in 29 coastal and Great Lakes states.
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