As the former mayor of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina and a resident for over 40 years, I have developed a unique appreciation of our state’s beach communities. North Carolina’s beaches are some of the most beautiful and pristine beaches in the country. The beach towns that dot our coast are not only natural havens of marine wildlife but also vacation destinations that support thriving economies.
Read MoreIf you thought the biggest threat to our favorite pastime was another COVID-19 lockdown, think again. While most of us were stuck inside waiting for Florida beaches to reopen this spring, the Trump administration was quietly continuing its assault on laws designed to protect our coastline. One might wonder how suspending the enforcement of EPA regulations has anything to do with stopping a global pandemic, but this was just one of the many surprise rollbacks the administration has slid under the table in the last four years.
Read MoreThe Trump administration’s rollbacks on energy industry regulations are threatening the future of Wisconsin’s rivers, lakes and streams. Just last Friday, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency flouted a 2018 D.C. Circuit Court ruling that required power plants to stop storing coal ash in unlined pits—a cheap storage option for the toxic waste, notorious for leaking and contaminating groundwater.
Read MoreThese days in northern Michigan, the wind is crisp and every day the temperature drops introducing a new autumn hue along the lakeshore. As leaves are blown from the trees, we receive a stark reminder that winter fast approaches.
Read MoreMaking a plan is a critical part of voting. Oftentimes, without a plan, life gets in the way and challenges arise, making the last minute rush to the polls not only stressful, but even unsuccessful.
Read MoreBlue Uprising is thrilled to endorse Laura Wood Habr, Virginia Beach candidate for City Treasurer. Laura is a lifelong resident of the area restaurant entrepreneur, founding member of the Business Alliance to Protect the Atlantic Coast (BAPAC) and this is her first time running for elected office.
Read MoreYou may have read about the DNC deciding that having a single-issue debate about climate change would not be fair to the other groups who would like to see their specific issue debated by the Presidential candidates.
Read MoreProgress takes time and patience but nothing happens when we don’t vote and participate. I know this all too well from being at the helm of the Surfrider Foundation from 1984 to 1990 and working for President Jimmy Carter from 1974 to 1980.
Read MoreLast week, after months of negotiation and the longest government shutdown in American history, the United States Congress finally reached an agreement to fund the government. They’d be allocating $1.3 billion to “border security,” significantly less than the $33 billion President Trump initially asked for and the $5 billion he had demanded during the shutdown.
Read MoreWe’ve all seen the pictures across social media platforms. As a community confined to the indoors while we make it through the polar vortex, the bags and boxes of personal belongings are piling up, ready to be donated to local organizations in hopes of minimizing our consumerism, tidying up our lives, and only holding onto those items which spark joy.
Read MoreOur nationwide efforts in coastal Congressional districts resulted in replacing climate-deniers in CA-48, CA-49, VA-02 and FL-26 with ocean-minded candidates Harley Rouda, Mike Levin, Elaine Luria and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell.
Read MoreOur 4th edition of I Surf. I Vote. in, Virginia Beach, was a beautiful success, despite a few hiccups along the way. We’ve been following & supporting the fight in VA-02 from afar, but things started to get exciting when Elaine Luria’s campaign reached out to our team. Elaine Luria is an amazing candidate who really understands the needs of coastal and rural residents. She is a veteran and a local small business owner in VB–deeply connected to her community, her family and this country. It was an honor to spend time with her and to see her passion for the ocean community.
Back in the early 60s, I surfed in the U.S Open of Surfing (back then, it was called the Huntington Beach Championships). During one particularly memorable year of the competition, we all got slimed by an big oil slick. We had so much black on our jerseys that the judges couldn't see who was who, making it impossible to judge.
Read MoreWhat’s in a name? Everything. That’s why we gave our newest voting campaign a name that says what it means and means what it says: I Surf. I Vote.
On Sunday, surfers and progressives came together to make that point loud and clear in Newport Beach. Surfers from Malibu to Encinitas and everywhere in between showed up with their boards to shoot our iconic VOTE photo.
Read MoreCoastal Orange County overcame some big obstacles in this race, and ocean-lovers, environmentalists, and progressives all made it out with a progressive candidate on the ticket in November. Right now, we’re in a win-win situation with both Hans Keirstead and Harley Rouda vying for a place in the general election. While, we don’t know who will be the final candidate in November yet, we are beyond excited that either of these guys are going on to take down Rohrabacher in 5 months.
Read MoreBarney went surfing and didn't make it to the polls in time to vote in the California primary election. Now Barney's life sucks, and even his dog wants to pee on him for being such a barney. Don't be a Barney!
Read MoreThe waves next week are gonna be small, and they might even suck. While on any other day of the week, this isn’t welcome news, on Tuesday, June 5th, it means that you can get all up in on American democracy. That’s right–it’s the primary election! And you won’t have to have any inner turmoil about going for a surf and then accidentally not making it to your polling place on time. Silver linings, right?
Read MoreBlue Uprising is taking a wave to the face for democracy! Join us as we commit to vote on June 5th by taking the #BlueWaveChallenge, launched by Indivisible CA 48.
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