Proponents of climate change legislation usually invoke the need to reduce global warming, but actress Sigourney Weaver is coming to the defense of something that often is out of sight: oceans.
"One secret the oceans have kept very well is their sensitivity to carbon dioxide pollution," Weaver said at a Senate hearing Thursday, as she urged lawmakers to pass climate legislation that would limit carbon emissions.
She made her pitch on the same day that a new report by the National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, found that ocean chemistry is changing faster than it has in hundreds of thousands of years because of the carbon dioxide being absorbed from the atmosphere. The resulting increased acidity of the oceans poses a serious threat to shellfish and other marine life. Studies have shown that increasing seawater acidity affects photosynthesis, nutrient acquisition, growth, reproduction and individual survival of certain sea life.
Ocean acidification has been called global warning's "evil twin."
"My hope, one shared by millions of Americans, is that you, our legislators, will put aside your differences and enact climate and energy legislation that will move America to a clean energy economy," Weaver said. She also urged other steps such as protecting marine and coastal habitats and reducing pollution.
It was Weaver's second Capitol Hill visit in as many weeks; last week, the "Avatar" star and the movie's director, James Cameron, participated in a panel discussion on global environmental policies and sustainable approaches.
"I, like a lot of concerned citizens, feel a kind of urgency about these climate questions," Weaver said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't think I've ever felt more passionately about anything than this because I feel we're already at a tipping point."
"Without question," she said. "Because I think it is a human right to have clean water and clean air and a safe world."
At the hearing, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, a champion of climate legislation, praised Weaver for calling attention to the issue. She said that while lawmakers can get some attention, "we really can't hold a candle to the attention that you will get by your testimony here."
Weaver also appeared at a Capitol Hill luncheon to screen a documentary she narrates, "Acid Test: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification," which was produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council. She also planned to meet with several senators urging them to support climate legislation, which is expected to be unveiled Monday.
Weaver said she is prepared to return for more visits.
"I guess it depends on how long it takes them to enact climate change legislation," she told the AP. "I'll certainly be happy to come back and talk to more senators. I feel that citizens like myself — earthlings, I like to consider myself an earthling — we do have the power to speak personally in a way that's so nonpolitical. I feel this is not a partisan issue in any way or a political issue in any way."
Maybe earthlings view it that way, but not politicians. The fight over climate legislation was quite partisan in the House of Representatives and Senate backers are bracing for a tough fight, too.
Weaver said small creatures in the ocean who are being affected by acidification "are like the canaries in the mine. They're singing, and we have to hear that and act."