California’s 840 miles of coastline are a gateway to stunning underwater landscapes that only a few see. Kelp forests, deep-sea mountains, and swirling ocean currents are home to diverse species of plants and animals, from playful sea otters and turtles to migrating tunas and species of gray, humpback, minke, and other whales that consider the vast Pacific to be your home.

Although mostly out of sight, these marine habitats play an essential role in keeping the air and water clean, absorbing excess carbon from the atmosphere and providing food for millions of people. When they work properly, people, animals, and our fishing and tourism economies thrive.

But an imminent threat to our beautiful and vital ocean ecosystems is becoming all too visible. We’ve all seen images of turtles chewing through plastic bags (mistaking them for food) and beleaguered whales and seals tangled in fishing gear.

The plastic pollution problem Californians have faced for years is now a crisis: we spend more than $520 million a year and spend thousands of volunteer hours cleaning plastics from the state’s iconic beaches. Residents of our coastal communities have seen with their own eyes that the ocean is ground zero for the plastic pollution crisis.

Worldwide, an estimated 11 million metric tons of plastic enter the ocean each year, and researchers expect that number to triple over the next two decades. The United States is the world’s largest generator of plastic waste (both in total and per capita) and a leading producer of virgin plastic resin, the building blocks used to make plastic bags, bottles, cigarette butts, and more.

It’s time to recognize what has been obvious to scientists and beach cleanup volunteers for years: we produce too much plastic.

Voluntary beach cleanups are important because they help limit damage to our coastlines and beaches. But they won’t stop plastic pollution from getting there in the first place. The only way to truly address this crisis is to tackle the problem at its source, by reducing the amount of plastic that is produced in the first place.

Plastics harm all marine ecosystems, not just those that volunteers can see and access. Plastic can be found in distant parts of our ocean, as well as in the most remote protected land areas, places that volunteers will never see, much less attempt to clean up. Plastic pollution is so pervasive that it can be found in our body tissues and even in breast milk.

Experts say that to effectively curb plastic pollution, we must eliminate at least half of all global production of single-use plastics by 2050. United Nations member states will meet in Ottawa for the next round of negotiations on the global plastics treaty from April 23 to 29, but the United States and many other nations have been slow to adopt provisions strong enough to meet this imperative.

And at the federal level, progress on plastic reduction has been limited at best. While we have seen the Department of the Interior take steps to phase out all single-use plastics on public lands, broader action is needed.

That’s why in October, one of us joined Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) in sponsoring the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act. This legislation is the bold strike needed to reduce plastic use across the country by strengthening provisions to reduce single-use plastics, supporting reuse and refill systems and improving the waste management system by holding producers to account. .

Unfortunately, in this deeply divided Congress the bill is unlikely to pass.

In the absence of meaningful federal action, some states have stepped forward to take the lead. Notably, California has recognized this urgency and in 2022 passed SB54, which calls for a 25 percent reduction in single-use plastics, the strongest plastics policy in the world. This law alone would eliminate nearly 23 million tons of single-use plastics, nearly 26 times the weight of the Golden Gate Bridge.

But we cannot afford to wait for all states and territories to follow California’s lead, especially knowing that many of them will not act.

We must decide if we really want to protect our oceans, lands, communities and bodies from the scourge of plastic pollution and then set our priorities accordingly. Federal legislation should be a priority. A strong global treaty is another.

When we join leaders from around the world in Ottawa later this month for international plastics treaty negotiations, we will encourage negotiators to look to California as a model for strong action to reduce plastic production.

Limiting the seemingly endless supply of single-use plastic polluting every corner of the Earth is the only effective way to safeguard ecosystems, communities and our own health from the global plastic pollution crisis.

The Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act and California’s leadership have provided a vision of what the future could look like once our priorities are in order. Now is the time for everyone (locally, federally and internationally) to build on it. Everyone must roll up their sleeves and do their part.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) represents California’s 2nd Congressional District. He has introduced several bills in Congress that seek to reduce plastic pollution, including the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act.

Janis Searles Jones is the executive director of the Ocean Conservancy.