"On the same page, it is pointed out that the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone extends 200 nautical miles seaward from our coasts, covering an area about 1.7 times the land area of the continental U.S. Several of the ways by which we as a nation depend on the ocean are seafood, recreation and tourism, cultural heritage, transportation of goods, and increasingly, ________.

a.freshwater recovery

b.scientific understandings

c.energy and other critical resources

d.national security"