Conserving the oceans was once a goal for Democrats and Republicans. In Congress, they worked together to ensure that U.S. fisheries were managed sustainably, to protect endangered sea creatures by banning the use of driftnets and shark fin fishing, and to set aside large areas of the ocean for special protection. While President, George HW Bush designated six National Marine Sanctuaries, more than during any previous administration, and President Bill Clinton called the United States’ first National Ocean Conference. President George W. Bush used the Antiquities Act to establish what was then the largest marine protected area in the world, Papahanaumokuakea, in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. And President Barack Obama has quadrupled the extent of US protected waters.

Despite warming ocean waters and rising sea levels, this bipartisan tradition has faded in recent years. Now, the White House has embarked on an ambitious economic program with climate action at its center. President Joe Biden and his climate team want to rapidly increase offshore wind power generation, reduce marine and port emissions, and protect ocean habitats and coastal communities.

But a return to progress will require a revival of bipartisanship in Congress. The president can take important steps through executive action, but if ocean-climate policy is to be sustainable, Congress must support it. Members of Congress have presented innovative policy proposals ranging from the Blue New Deal to the Ocean-Based Climate Solutions Act, but so far they are just proposals.

Consider Biden’s approval of the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts. This is the start of its effort to produce 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030 (enough to power around 10 million homes and create around 77,000 jobs). To make the president’s pledge a reality, Congress should expand tax incentives for new wind projects and power grid upgrades. These incentives should be conditional on local hiring, investment in workforce development, and family support wages, as New York State has done with Climate Jobs New York. .

Lawmakers should also invest directly in training for green jobs and strengthening the national supply chain for manufacturing wind turbines. They must also fund the scientific research necessary to assess and minimize the impacts of wind farms on fishing grounds and wildlife, such as the North Atlantic right whale, in danger of extinction.

Then there is the need to protect special ocean areas and coastal communities. Biden’s plan is to conserve 30% of the ocean by 2030 and invest in the protection and restoration of coastal and ocean ecosystems to guard against sea level rise and storms, improve habitats and absorb carbon emissions. These are important goals. Congress must now provide the resources federal agencies will need to work with stakeholders and scientists to identify places worth protecting.

There is already bipartisan support in Congress for a program that would spend $ 10 billion on coastal restoration projects, but this must be cleared soon as part of a larger infrastructure package if the backlog of projects is to be allowed. be eliminated quickly enough to minimize risk. the rising seas.

The president’s proposed Civilian Climate Corps, if authorized and funded by Congress, could be one way to put people to work to restore these ecosystems.

And while Congress plans to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on ground infrastructure, it should stipulate – as Obama’s rule once did – that construction paid for with taxpayer dollars should not be approved within areas that the rising seas will soon put under water.

Stating his commitment to scientific integrity and the need for better climate data and predictions, Biden called for a historic 25% budget increase for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But it is Congress that will have to authorize the spending.

The American people broadly support the maintenance of clean and healthy coasts and oceans. They want the government to reduce pollution, expand protected areas and invest in clean, renewable energy infrastructure. The White House has defined the right political vision. Congress must make this a reality.

Jean Flemma, former senior policy adviser to the House Natural Resources Committee, is director of the Ocean Defense Initiative and co-founder of the Urban Ocean Lab think tank. Miriam Goldstein, Oceanographer, is Executive Director of Energy and Environment and Director of Ocean Policy at the Center for American Progress. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist, is co-founder of the Urban Ocean Lab think tank, co-founder of the All We Can Save project and co-host of the How to Save a Planet podcast.