"While states like Washington are moving on their own to curb ocean acidification, national efforts are stymied by politics — and ever-rising CO2 emissions."

"When U.S. Rep. Brian Baird tried a few years ago to get his colleagues to put more money toward ocean-acidification research, few even understood the issue.

One congressman, Baird said, confused souring seas with acid rain, and asked, 'Didn’t we deal with that 20 years ago?'

The corrosion of the oceans by carbon-dioxide emissions has barely made a ripple among Washington, D.C.’s power brokers. Little money gets earmarked for research. Ocean change has inspired few stabs at curbing CO2."

Craig Welch reports for the Seattle Times with photographs by Steve Ringman January 22, 2014 [2]. The story was produced, in part, with funding from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.