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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – CALPIRG Students at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) showed up to Associated Students’ weekly senate meeting to witness the passing of a new resolution. After going through its relevant committees, a resolution in support of expanding Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) off of California’s coast came to a vote this last Wednesday.
“Having literally gone door to door out in Santa Barbara and talking to folks about this a year ago, this is genuinely the most critical time for this campaign” said Sierra Ferrante, former CALPIRG state board chair and UCSB student.
On May 5th and 6th, the California Fish and Game Commission is hosting a public hearing in Santa Barbara to review petitions that affect California’s MPA network. Some could increase the amount of MPAs, others could reduce the amount of protections we have.
In the audience, members of CALPIRG came to show their support. They sported a variety of signs, each with different words but all the same message: We need to protect our coast. This campaign
“It’s clear that protecting our oceans is something that our students care about deeply,” said Alex Borgas, CALPIRG Protect our Oceans Campaign Coordinator and UCSB student.
Ultimately, the resolution passed unanimously, 14-0. And as per the text of the resolution itself, copies of it will be distributed to multiple California agencies and officials to show that the students at UCSB want to see our oceans protected.
