April 14, 2025
Q&A with Beth Lowell: Campaigning in Challenging Times
BY: Sarah Holcomb
Preparing for a second Trump administration in the United States, Oceana’s Beth Lowell reflects on past lessons and future plans.
In polarized times, how do you bring people together to protect and restore the oceans?
BL: Thankfully, protecting the oceans isn’t a divisive issue. In every public survey we’ve conducted, we’ve found that Americans across the political spectrum support protecting our oceans, coasts, and wildlife. No matter the political party, it’s about finding common ground in protecting a shared resource, one that we all love and rely on.
The oceans are also an important economic driver in the United States — supporting jobs and fishing communities, tourism, recreation, and other businesses. Without healthy oceans and clean coasts, all of this is at risk.
During previous administrations, Oceana successfully stopped the expansion of offshore drilling to new areas off the U.S. coast. How did you work with coastal communities to make that happen?
BL: Oil spills have devastating economic impacts for industries including fishing and seafood, tourism, recreation, real estate, and more. We saw these impacts firsthand following the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in 2010.
We knew that stopping new offshore drilling would require the local voices of those who have the most to lose. So, we connected with local communities, elected officials, and business owners, among others. We educated them about the threats that drilling and oil spills pose on their communities and economies. And we helped build alliances of businesses along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico that support protecting our coasts. These local voices helped show decision-makers — their elected representatives — that more offshore drilling would not only impact ocean wildlife, beaches, and our coastlines, but also severely impact the economic engine of coastal communities. This groundswell of opposition was hard to ignore.
During the first Trump administration, Oceana built bipartisan support to protect key environmental laws that were under attack. How will you take action if faced with similar threats again?
BL: Oceana and our allies successfully protected several critical laws during the previous Trump administration, such as the Endangered Species Act, the main U.S. law that protects threatened and endangered wildlife. We also defended the Marine Mammal Protection Act — a key law that protects marine mammals from undue harm in U.S. waters — and the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which oversees ocean fisheries in U.S. federal waters.
We did this first by educating the public about the importance of these laws and threats they were facing under the administration and in Congress. We organized people in the most-affected regions so elected officials were hearing directly from their constituents, including fishers and business owners who have seen the benefits of these laws firsthand, and we rallied Oceana supporters around the country to fight back. We plan to do the same over the next four years.
Oceana’s strategic approach targets specific decision-makers to make policy change. Bringing together grassroots organizing with science, policy advocacy, legal expertise, and communications is how we deliver real change to protect the oceans. No matter who’s in power!
What’s the next step in Oceana’s campaigns to protect the oceans from plastic pollution?
BL: We’ve won more than 30 victories to reduce single-use plastic pollution in eight countries, including the United States. In 2025, we will continue to build on this momentum. In the U.S., we will focus primarily on plastic foam, as in the foam containers used for takeout, or fast food beverage cups. This type of plastic is especially problematic. It’s rarely recycled, and it breaks up into tiny pieces that makes it harder to clean up on our beaches and in our waters. It may even cause cancer. Phasing out plastic foam is a commonsense solution for our oceans and our health. Twelve states have already banned plastic foam food containers. Now it’s time for a national ban.
North Atlantic right whales continue to be killed by ship strikes and entanglements off the East Coast of the U.S. and Canada. What changes are needed to protect them?
BL: There are only about 370 North Atlantic right whales left. They are on the brink of extinction. But we know what is killing them — the two biggest threats to their survival are getting entangled in fishing ropes and lines and getting run over by speeding ships. We also know what can save them: New fishing technology and gear changes can reduce the risk of fishing gear killing right whales while also keeping fishers on the water. And slowing ships down to 10 knots when the whales are present can reduce the risk of death between 80-90%. Yet neither of these policies are in place.
We need leaders in the U.S. and Canada to enact these protections now. If not, we could see the first large whale species go extinct in the Atlantic Ocean in centuries.
In just a few words, tell us why Oceana’s campaigns in the U.S. matter.
BL: Oceana is needed now more than ever. We must be the safety net for our oceans in the face of increasing threats and setbacks to the progress we’ve made in recent years. We need to protect ocean wildlife and their habitats. We need to end overfishing and support responsible fisheries management. We need to combat illegal fishing and seafood fraud. We need to fight plastic pollution and offshore drilling. We have our work cut out for us, but thankfully, we’re not going at it alone. From our dedicated supporters, to our allies in communities from coast to coast, we will continue to win important victories for the oceans.
Any parting thoughts?
BL: Oceana isn’t afraid of a challenge. We’ve worked under administrations of all ideologies. We’ve faced difficulties in several of the countries where we campaign, including the Philippines, Brazil, Mexico, and right here in the United States. And yet, we have continued to make policy change and find common ground, including with unlikely allies. We know it won’t be easy. Every voice will be critical, and we hope you will continue to join us as we campaign to protect the world’s oceans.
Beth Lowell, Oceana’s Vice President for the United States, has campaigned for conservation for nearly 30 years. She has also testified before Congress and shared her expertise on national news platforms. From calling out dangerous policies, to celebrating victories, to collaborating with unlikely allies, Lowell and her team use a range of strategic tactics to meet the challenges of the moment.
