U.S. Scientist Letter to the Biden Administration on the Importance of Ambition in the Global Plastics Treaty

Signed by 133 environmental science, marine science, healthcare, industrial ecology & policy experts in the U.S.

Dear President Biden,


We, the undersigned U.S.-based science and policy experts, would like to begin by extending our deepest gratitude for the positive and well-received shift in the United States’ position with respect to critical elements under discussion by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international instrument on plastic pollution (the Treaty). Negotiations on the Treaty present a critically important opportunity to generate a five-fold win on issues that we know are important to the health and prosperity of the United States - and priority issues for the Biden Administration. 

  1. Overdue reforms across the entire plastic life cycle, such as those called for in numerous expert reports, would represent a win for environmental justice by reducing the disproportionate burden and harms of extraction of fossil carbon and associated plastic and chemical pollution on communities of Color and low-income communities in the U.S. 

  2. The Treaty creates an opportunity to eliminate harmful additives and chemicals used in plastic production, thus reducing cancer and other health risks and impacts in the US and beyond, thereby advancing your Cancer Moonshot initiative. 

  3. This presents a historic opportunity to reduce or even wholly eliminate plastic pollution, which has fouled oceans, beaches, rivers, and fields, not just in America but worldwide, and introduced significant risks to the future of biodiversity and endangered species. 

  4. Measures addressing unsustainable levels of plastic production could significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advance our efforts in response to the climate crisis. 

  5. A robust Treaty would create a positive stimulus for American jobs and the economy by boosting scientific and material innovation across key sectors, stimulating growth in circularity, and eliminating the substantial cost-burden that plastic pollution imposes upon human and environmental health - a situation akin to the positive economic benefits we are now seeing materialize in the United States associated with recent investments in our overdue transition to a low-carbon economy.

In our science and the research of our peers, we see a clear body of evidence and data that supports these aforementioned risks and underscores the opportunity the Treaty presents to address the many harms we now know are associated with all stages of the plastic life cycle. We believe a strong U.S. position on the Treaty is justified given our nation’s status as a significant producer and consumer of plastics, and its outsized role in generating plastic pollution and exporting plastic waste.


We are grateful for the United States’ commitment to listen to members of the scientific community through the various webinars, open comment periods, and bilateral meetings the Administration has hosted. We have shared perspectives from our science in these past meetings, and we wish to reiterate that there is a clear scientific case for a strong and ambitious agreement that addresses the full life cycle of plastics.  


We all stand ready to share further insights from our respective research programs that can help to illuminate comprehensive policy packages that could maximize the aforementioned benefits in the final Treaty text. Again, we commend all levels of leadership in your Administration for the recent clear expression of ambition from the U.S. government in delivering a maximally impactful treaty in Busan. We stand beside your commitment to see a science-based Treaty that paves the way for our country’s cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future.  

Cc: 

  • John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for International Climate Policy, Executive Office of the 

  • President

  • Ali Zaidi, Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor, Office of Domestic Climate Policy

  • Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor, White House National Security Council

  • Brenda Mallory, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality

  • Arati Prabhakar, Director of White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

  • Anthony Blinken, Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State


Sincerely,

Statement signatories

Douglas McCauley, PhD

Professor of Marine Science, UC Santa Barbara

Director, Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory 

Adjunct Professor UC Berkeley


Roland Geyer, PhD

Professor of Industrial Ecology, UC Santa Barbara

Bren School of Environmental Science & Management


Margaret Spring, JD

Chief Conservation and Science Officer, Monterey Bay Aquarium

Chair of NASEM Committee on U.S. Contributions to Global Ocean Plastic Waste


Sylvia A. Earle, PhD

Founder, Mission Blue; National Geographic Explorer at Large, National Geographic Society


Lisa A. Levin, PhD

Professor Emerita, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego


Diva Amon, PhD

Science Advisor, Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory, UC Santa Barbara

Director and Founder, SpeaSeas


Philip J. Landrigan, MD, MSc, FAAP, FACPM, FACOEM

Director, Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good

Director, Global Observatory on Planetary Health

Professor of Biology, Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society, Boston College


Jenna Jambeck, PhD

Distinguished Professor of Environmental Engineering, University of Georgia

Member of NASEM Committee  of U.S. Contributions to Global Ocean Plastic Waste


Julie Peller, PhD

Professor of Chemistry, Valparaiso University


Martin Mulvihill, PhD

Co-founder, Safer Made Ventures


R. Thomas Zoeller, PhD. 

Emeritus Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst


Judith S. Weis, PhD

Professor Emerita, Rutgers University


Sarah Hameed, PhD

Senior Scientist and Blue Parks Director, Marine Conservation Institute


Matthew Savoca, PhD

Research Scientist, Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, California Marine Sanctuary Foundation


Samantha Stevenson, PhD

Associate Professor, UC Santa Barbara, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management


Peter Schultze-Allen

Senior Scientist, EOA, Inc. 


Paulita Bennett-Martin, MDP

Senior Strategist of Policy Initiatives, The 5 Gyres Institute


Zoie T. Diana, PhD

Liber Ero Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Toronto


Lisa Erdle, PhD

Director of Science and Innovation, The 5 Gyres Institute


Mary Ellen Ternes, BE(ChE), JD

Senior Fellow, Global Council for Science and the Environment


Tracy J. Mincer, PhD

Associate Professor, Florida Atlantic University


Alice (Xia) Zhu, PhD

Memorial University of Newfoundland


Neil Tangri, PhD

Senior Fellow, Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley


Neil Nathan, MS

Marine Science and Policy Specialist, Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory, UC Santa Barbara


Ciera Martinez, PhD

 Senior Program Manager, Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center for Data Science and Environment (DSE), UC Berkeley


Sangcheol Moon

PhD Candidate, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, UC Berkeley


Erika Veidis, MBA

Planetary Health Program Manager, Stanford University


Molly Morse, MS

Senior Manager, Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory


Marcus Eriksen, PhD

Marine Scientist, The 5 Gyres Institute


Alastair Iles, PhD

Professor of Sustainability Transitions, UC Berkeley


Maya Weeks, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Davis


Desiree LaBeaud, MD, MS

Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford University


Madeleine Scammell, DSc

Associate Professor of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health


Monica Galligan, MSc

Faculty, College of Science, California State University Monterey Bay


Mercer R Brugler, PhD

Professor of Marine Biology, University of South Carolina Beaufort


Peter J. Auster, PhD

Research Professor Emeritus of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut


Ben Farmer

NSF Graduate Research Fellow and PhD Candidate, Louisiana State University


Gorka Sancho, PhD

Professor of Biology, College of Charleston


Samantha Joye, PhD

Regents’ Professor, University of Georgia

Holly Bik, PhD

Associate Professor, University of Georgia


Maria Hamilton, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Georgia


Thomas C. Shirley, PhD

Professor Emeritus, University of Alaska Fairbanks


Tiago Pereira, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Georgia


Timothy Hoellein, PhD

Professor of Biology, Loyola University Chicago


Christelle Hyacinthe, MS

Research Professional, University of Georgia


Jennifer Jacquet, PhD

Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of Miami


Jimmy Nelson, PhD

Assistant Professor, University of Georgia


Nia Walker, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa


Adrienne Hoarforst, PhD

Assistant Professor, University of Georgia


Patrick Christie, PhD

Professor, University of Washington


Chase Brewster, MS

Project Scientist, Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory


Ryan Gasbarro, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Santa Cruz


Victoria Fulfer, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography


Thomas P. Guilderson, PhD

Professor and researcher, Ocean Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Cruz


Susanne M. Brander, PhD

Associate Professor, Oregon State University


Edward Maibach, PhD

Professor and Director, George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication


Carl Boettiger, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management,  UC Berkeley


Ann Blake, PhD

Executive Director, Jenifer Altman Foundation


Amelia Meyer, MSc

Research Scientist on Disease Ecology in a Changing World, Stanford University


Emily Jacobs, PhD

Associate Professor, Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara


Robert Fournier, PhD

Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley


Fernando Pérez, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Statistics, University of California, Berkeley


Mark Hixon, PhD

Hsiao Endowed Professor of Marine Biology, University of Hawai’i


Alison S. Carlson

President, Forsythia Foundation


Monica Arienzo, PhD

Associate Research Professor, Desert Research Institute


Robert Richmond, PhD

Research Professor and Director, Kewalo Marine Laboratory, University of Hawai’i at Manoa


Duncan Currie, JD

International Ocean Lawyer, Globelaw


Karen Tuttle

Applied Water Science Lab Manager, Monterey Bay Aquarium


Holly Kaufman, MC/MPA

Director, The Plastics & Climate Project (signing in personal capacity)


Alison Bain, PhD

Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Oregon State University


Win Cowger, PhD

Research Director, Moore Institute for Plastic Pollution Research


Nicole Yamase, PhD

Director of Impact, OneReef


Elizabeth Ryznar, MD, MSc

Psychiatrist and Part-Time Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences


Beth Polidoro, PhD

Associate Professor, Arizona State University

IUCN Marine Conservation Committee Member, IUCN Species Survival Commission


Josh Forakis, PhD

Post-doctoral Fellow, Hawaii Pacific University


Donna M. Staton, MD

Pediatrician


Elise Granek, PhD

Professor, Environmental Science & Management, Portland State University


Bethanie Carney Almroth, PhD

Professor of Ecotoxicology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden


Siobhan Anderson, MS

Director and CoFounder, Chief Scientific Officer, The Tyre Collective


Emma Williams, MHS

Senior Research Associate, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health


Emilie Snell-Rood, PhD

Professor, University of Minnesota


Robin Cooper, MD

Associate Clinical Professor, University of California, San Francisco

Co-founder and President, Climate Psychiatry Alliance


Leslie Davenport, MS

Climate Psychology Professor, California Institute of Integral Studies


Paula Chu, PhD, LMHC, LPC, NCC

Director, Stanley King Institute


Jennifer Gordon, PhD, PC

Psychologist


Catherine Balletto, PhD, MSW

Adjunct Assistant Professor, Smith College School for Social Work


Mary Finley-Brook, PhD

Associate Professor of Geography, Environment and Sustainability, University of Richmond


Emma Nelson, PhD

Clinical psychologist, Elemental Psychology PLLC


Jessica Simms, PhD

Geographer, Author, Simms Writes, LLC


Dale Dillavou, PhD

Psychologist, MIT lumnus


Rachel Rhodes, MS

Project Scientist, Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory


Jodie Skillicorn, PhD

Psychiatrist, Mindful Psychiatry


Annie Jordan, PhD

Depth Psychologist, Surface Depth


Claire B. Simmerman, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Hydrologist, United States Department of Agriculture


Bettye LS Maddux, PhD

Director of Research Development, Oregon State University


Joanna Person-Michener, PhD

Environmental Resiliency Instructor, University of Arkansas 


Jonathan Gorman, PsyD

Clinical Psychologist, Loyola University Maryland


Janet Lewis, MD

Assistant Clinical Professor


Minal Mistry, MS, MBA

Senior Policy Analyst, Biologist and Researcher, Industrial Systems Sustainability


A. Sam Pottinger

Senior Research Data Scientist, Eric & Wendy Schmidt Center for Data Science and the Environment, UC Berkeley


Mark Haver

Policy Advisor and North America Regional Representative, Sustainable Ocean Alliance


Alexandra Maria Azevedo

Seafood Market Transformation Officer, World Wildlife Fund


Bobbi-Jo Dobush, JD

Independent Ocean Conservation Policy Consultant, Salt Horizon LLC


Lindsey Kemmerling, PhD

Postdoctoral Researcher, Minneapolis-St. Paul Urban Long Term Ecological Research Program, University of Minnesota


Nivedita Biyani, PhD

Researcher, Environmental Engineer and Industrial Ecologist


Karl McLetchie

Ocean Engineer, SeaKnowledge


Kimberly A. Warner, PhD

Senior Scientist, Oceana


Britta Baechler, PhD

Director, Ocean Plastics Research, Ocean Conservancy


Caitlynn Birch, MsC

Campaign Manager & Marine Scientist, Oceana


Philip Bender, PhD

Clinical Psychologist


Geoff Shester, PhD

California Campaign Director & Senior Scientist, Oceana


Scott Coffin, PhD

Research Scientist, Environmental Toxicologist


Anja Brandon, PhD

Director, Plastics Policy, Ocean Conservancy


Helen M. Rozwadowski, PhD

Professor of History and Maritime Studies, University of Connecticut


Jason B. Sylvan, PhD

Associate Professor, Texas A&M University


Francesco Ferretti, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech


Ellen K. Pikitch, PhD

Professor, Stony Brook University


Julie A. Huber, PhD

Senior Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute


Maya Groner, PhD

Senior Research Scientist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences


Deborah Bronk, PhD

President and CEO, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences


Maria Ivanova, PhD

Director and Professor, School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs, Northeastern University

Stephen Archer, PhD

Senior Research Scientist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

Michael W. Lomas, PhD

Senior Research Scientist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

Ramunas Stepanauskas, PhD

Senior Research Scientist, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

Callie A. Veelenturf, PhD

Executive Director, The Leatherback Project

Vicki Nichols Goldstein, MS

Founder & Executive Director, Inland Ocean Coalition

Sara Belontz, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Scientist, California State University, San Marcos

Holly Kaufman, MC/MPA

Climate change & sustainability strategist

Brandon Pearson, PhD

Assistant Professor of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, Oregon State University

Sharon Homer-Drummond, PhD

AAAS Science Policy Fellow at NSF INCLUDES

Micky Rogers, PhD

Atmospheric Chemist, Local Science Partner, American Geophysical Union

Elizabeth Dell, PhD

Professor, Rochester Institute of Technology

Michelle Nowlin, JD, MA

Clinical Professor of Law; Co-Director, Environmental Law and Policy Clinic

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Please fill out this form with the appropriate information if you would like to sign the U.S. scientists letter to the Biden Administration emphasizing the importance of ambition in the final round of negotiations for the global plastics treaty. Scientists, policy specialists, legal experts, or researchers actively working on this or related issues (marine science, materials science, economics, environmental science, healthcare, etc.) are welcome to sign.  Please only fill the form below if you identify as an expert in one of these fields.

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