Rising Tide #157 — Angelo Villagomez vs. Trump’s Ocean Policies
Hosts David Helvarg and Vicki Nichols-Goldstein sit down with Angelo Villagomez, Senior Ocean Fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington D.C. — a man who has spent his career turning conviction into policy at the edges of the map.
A longtime activist and advocate for community and indigenous governance, Villagomez was a central force behind the establishment of the Mariana Trench National Marine Monument, doing the hard, unglamorous work of coalition-building from the ground up while based in Saipan, deep in the western Pacific.
The conversation turns, as it must, to the present dangers. The Trump administration has set its sights on the nation’s marine monuments, thrown open the door to deep-sea mining with reckless enthusiasm, and pursued what can only be described as a vendetta against offshore wind — apparently terrified of a wind-spill — while greasing every available skid for oil and gas expansion. Meanwhile, the institutional backbone of American ocean science, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is being quietly hollowed out from within.
But Villagomez and his hosts don’t stop at the diagnosis. The episode maps a course forward — from protecting local waters to hitting the streets (signs reading “No Kings but king salmon” are apparently optional but encouraged), registering to vote, and casting ballots with the ocean in mind come November.
If information is a weapon for positive change, this conversation is live ammunition.
Listen here or on Apple Podcasts.
