Media Hits

ScienceInsider, July 19, 2010
OBAMA’S NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY
Erik Stokstad

It wouldn't have prevented the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but a new national ocean policy, announced today by the White House, was welcomed by environmentalists. The policy is intended to promote oceans and great lakes that are "healthy and resilient, safe and productive." The policy reflects a "modern outlook that doesn't mistake the oceans for wilderness, but a work zone where we need zoning," comments Chris Mann of the Pew Environment Group, who hopes the policy will increase the focus on environmental stewardship.

Read More: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/07/obamas-national-ocean-policy.html

The Christian Science Monitor, July 19, 2010
AFTER GULF OIL SPILL, OBAMA PLANS BETTER USE OF OCEANS
Editorial

Long after the last oil seeps from the BP spill, the eco-disaster in the Gulf is bound to change the way Americans take responsibility for the oceans. President Obama made a start Monday by ordering 22 agencies with ocean responsibilities to become better stewards of the marine environment.

Read More: http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2010/0719/After-Gulf-oil-spill-Obama-plans-better-use-of-oceans

The Associated Press, July 19, 2010
OBAMA LAUNCHES POLICY TO PROTECT OCEANS
Julie Pace

The Obama administration on Monday announced a new national policy for strengthening the way the U.S. manages its oceans and coasts, and the Great Lakes. Officials said the framework is needed now more than ever following the massive Gulf oil spill. The policy calls for the creation of a new National Ocean Council that will coordinate the work of the many federal agencies involved in conservation and marine planning. But it creates no new restrictions or regulations, and is not expected to have any short-term effect on offshore oil drilling.

Read More: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_OCEANS?SITE=NYWNE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

The New York Times Blog, July 19, 2010
FORGING A COHERENT OCEANS POLICY
John M. Broder
Blog

The White House on Monday announced that it was forming a new National Ocean Council to try to make sense of the dozens of laws and overlapping agencies governing policy on oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes. The new body, which will include 24 officials from various federal agencies, will not have the power to propose new laws or regulations. Rather it will set broad policy goals and try to referee between conflicting commercial and recreational uses of the nation’s aquatic resources.

Read More: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/forging-a-coherent-oceans-policy/

The Huffington Post, July 19, 2010
PRESIDENT TO MAKE ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY TODAY WITH NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY
Sarah Chassis

According to press reports, today will go down in environmental history for landmark progress toward ocean protection. In my 36 years of environmental policy work, there are few moments in my book that rise to today’s level of importance.

Read More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-chasis/president-to-make-environ_b_651190.html

The Christian Science Monitor, July 19, 2010
AFTER GULF OIL SPILL, OBAMA PLANS BETTER USE OF OCEANS
Editorial

Long after the last oil seeps from the BP spill, the eco-disaster in the Gulf is bound to change the way Americans take responsibility for the oceans. President Obama made a start Monday by ordering 22 agencies with ocean responsibilities to become better stewards of the marine environment.

Read More: http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2010/0719/After-Gulf-oil-spill-Obama-plans-better-use-of-oceans

L.A. Times, July 19, 2010
OBAMA TO LAUNCH OCEAN INITIATIVE

President Obama on Monday is set to create a national stewardship policy for America's oceans and Great Lakes, including a type of zoning that could dramatically rebalance the way government regulates offshore drilling, fishing and other marine activities.

Read More: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-ocean-20100719,0,1686762.story

CNN.com, July 15, 2009
GOVERNMENT TRYING TO REEL IN ‘OCEAN SPRAWL’
John D. Sutter

We all know what happens when urban sprawl gets out of control: Commutes back up, smog thickens, and concrete suburbs gobble up green spaces. But what about "ocean sprawl"?Until recently, no one gave that idea much thought. But the oceans, like the land, have gotten crowded, and now scientists and policy makers are looking for ways to plan ocean development -- with the aim of preventing our public-owned seas from turning into sprawling, watery versions of Houston, Texas, or Atlanta, Georgia.

Seattle Times, September 2009
AS AN ARCTIC NATION, US MUST EMBRACE SMART, SCIENCE-BASED STEWARDSHIP
Nancy Sutley, Jane Lubchenco and Thad Allen
Guest Editorial

More needs to be understood of the Arctic's environment, these guest columnists write. The Arctic has a significant influence on the global system so any impacts from increased activity must be given special consideration. This creates a tension between exploitation and conservation that can only be resolved through effective governance.

AS AN ARCTIC NATION, US MUST EMBRACE SMART, SCIENCE-BASED STEWARDSHIP (PDF)

The Olympian, March 22
AN OCEAN POLICY FOR THE FUTURE
Elliott A. Norse

The 2010 Winter Olympics gave "The Great One," hockey player Wayne Gretzky, the honor of lighting the Olympic Cauldron. Seeing him reminded me of his famous quote: "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been." As in hockey, success in ocean policy comes from foresight, communication and willingness to take a hit for the good of the team. President Obama should heed Gretzky's advice as he leads our nation toward an ocean policy to recover the health of America's oceans and generate needed American jobs. Our oceans and coasts are still governed by a hodgepodge of 140 different federal laws and 20 different federal agencies, each with different goals and often conflicting mandates.

San Francisco Chronicle, March 27
CASTING A WIDE NET FOR AN OCEAN RESCUE
Editorial

The rumor seemed to gain a life of its own in the blogosphere: President Obama was poised to ban sportfishing in America. The source of the misinformation was a column earlier this month on ESPNOutdoors.com, which quickly admitted to "several errors in the editing and presentation" of a commentary on President Obama's Ocean Policy Task Force. But the correction could not stop right-wing bloggers and even some members of Congress from seizing on what they viewed as a "gotcha" moment against the president.

Seattle Times, April 1
OIL DRILLING PLAN HEIGHTENS NEED FOR NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY
Kristi Heim
Blog

To look out at Puget Sound on a clear day is to be dazzled by its beauty. But that's just the surface. Elliott Norse, president of Marine Conservation Biology Institute, a non-profit in Bellevue, struggles with the fundamental problem of public awareness about what's underneath. Unfortunately, "out of sight is out of mind," he says, despite the fact that oceans make up 99 percent of the habitable space on Earth and provide half of our oxygen.

The Baltimore Sun, April 13
NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY NEEDED - New governance plan would help Chesapeake Bay recover
Jim Chambers
Opinion Editorial

I've spent my whole life living and often fishing along the Atlantic Seaboard. My most exciting experience was catching a 900-pound giant bluefin tuna off the coast of Massachusetts 10 years ago — an epic, 75-minute battle I'll never forget. So it bothers me that nearly all the fish I purchase for my seafood distribution company for Washington, D.C. -area restaurants must come from Alaska and the Pacific. But I only source seafood from healthy, sustainable fisheries, and the sad fact is most East Coast species are severely depleted.

South Coast Today, April 15
YOUR VIEW: U.S. SHOULD FOLLOW MASSACHUSETTS’ LEAD ON OCEAN PLANNING
Stephen P. Crosby and John K. Bullard

We hope that in due time, the Obama administration can fulfill its commitment to a comprehensive energy strategy and a redoubled national climate change strategy. But in the meantime, there are many intermediate steps that can and must be taken, including national, and then international, management of our oceans.
This month, President Barack Obama will consider establishing by executive order a national ocean policy that, among other things, would mandate a proactive planning process for the various uses of our national maritime waters, with an aim towards minimizing and mitigating climate change impacts, and rationalizing the siting of marine renewable energy infrastructure and other marine uses through "marine spatial planning," or MSP.

The Huffington Post, April 19
WHY WE NEED A NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY, JANE LUBCHENCO
Jon Bowermaster Interview

Environmental scientist, marine ecologist and biologist, Jane Lubchenco was named administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in early 2009, the top political job in the country on ocean issues. She is using everything she has learned from her many days on the sea as a scientist and activist to try and shape a national ocean policy. Can politics really make a difference? An excerpt from our new book, companion to the DisneyNature release, "Oceans, The Threats to Our Seas and What You Can Do To Turn the Tide."

Maui News, April 21
OCEAN POLICY’S TIME HAS COME
Editorial

As an island state (make that the only island state) Hawaii is keenly aware of its dependence on a healthy ocean.
And, while Hawaii can make the claim that it is the only state that is nothing but coastline, the United States as a whole is the country with the most ocean territory in the world. All of which makes President Obama's expected announcement of a new National Ocean Policy based on recommendations from the Ocean Policy Task Force of extreme importance to the state and the country. Last month, more than 260 marine scientists urged the president to create a strong national policy centered on the protection and sustainable use of ocean resources.

Politico, April 22
FORGING 21ST CENTURY OCEAN POLICY
William K. Reilly

Democrats and Republicans rarely see eye to eye on issues these days. But there’s one important area in which strong bipartisan support is evident: the need for a national policy to govern management of our oceans, coasts and Great Lakes. A bipartisan commission of experts, chaired by retired Adm. James D. Watkins — appointed by President George W. Bush — concluded six years ago that our oceans and Great Lakes were in dire straits because of unsustainable fishing, pollution and the growing effects of climate change, which harms marine life as it warms and acidifies the seas. But the good news is that the situation, while dire, is far from hopeless. We can bring our oceans and Great Lakes back to health.

West Hawaii Today, April 24
HAWAII NEEDS THE NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY
Rick Gaffney, William Aila & Bob Richmond

In the coming weeks, President Obama may issue an executive order creating a comprehensive national policy to govern the way our oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes are managed, based on recommendations from the Ocean Policy Task Force. To accommodate fishing, shipping, transportation, recreation and other uses, and to protect and restore the natural resources that sustain the economy of the Hawaiian Islands, we need an integrated federal effort that also includes and accommodates cultural practices for marine resource stewardship. There now is no overarching national ocean policy. Marine and coastal ecosystems are managed by more than 20 federal agencies -- in addition to local and state governments -- and are subject to more than 140 different federal laws and regulations.

The Oregonian, April 30
IN DANGER OF LOVING OUR OCEANS TO DEATH
Leesa Cobb & Kristofor Lofgren
Guest Columnist

No matter how different we may appear to each other, Oregonians will always have one thing in common: We love to catch and eat fish. Salmon, lingcod, rockfish: You name it, we love it. People have been living on this land and off the bounty of the neighboring ocean as far back as we can look.
Here in Oregon, the ocean has long been an essential component of our economy and lifestyle. It provides food, jobs, education and entertainment. But there are signs, here and elsewhere, that our ocean is being loved to death.

A NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY NEEDED
Jerry R. Schubel

Jerry Schubel - A National Ocean Policy Needed.pdf

Nature, May 5
A PLAN FOR THE OCEAN
Editorial

Governments have typically regulated their coastal waters as if fishing, shipping and the like were separate entities. A new, integrated approach could change all that — while greatly boosting marine science.

Onearth, May 6
ON THE WATERFRONT
David Helvarg Interview of Admiral Thad Allen

Well, first I think the world needs an ocean policy, because of the need for a more measured approach to what is arguably the last global commons. Considering all the multiple uses -- energy production, fishing, shipping, recreation, etc. -- and their implications will reduce the overall risk to the environment because you're going to make much wiser choices, rather than reacting to the first person who comes along and says, "I want a license to do this out there."

Miami Herald, May 19
THE FUTURE OF OIL AND WATER
Joshua Reichert
Opinion Editorial

The explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig brings into sharp focus not only a tragic loss of life but also the fragmented and inadequate way in which we manage and protect the nation's critical marine resources and the fragile ocean environment. Scientifically sound and precautionary polices to reconcile the needs of safety, energy security, sustainable fisheries and environmental protection have become urgent.

Science, June 18
PROPOSED US POLICY FOR OCEAN, COAST, AND GREAT LAKES STEWARDSHIP
Jane Lubchenco and Nancy Sutley

The Deepwater Horizon-BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a stark reminder of the intimate dependence of coastal communities on healthy coastal and oceanic ecosystems and of the urgent need to revise policies to ensure wise stewardship of coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes

Change.Org, June 18
IS A NEW NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY ENOUGH TO SAVE THE SEAS
Mara Hardt
Blog

I'm confident Obama's National Ocean Policy is a step we must take to have any chance at sustainable management of the sea. But, it's going to be an enormous challenge to ensure that policies can be turned into meaningful action. And more than ever, the ocean needs us to act. Stat. So, I can't help but wonder: September 11th was a crisis that warranted development of the Department for Homeland Security; how many multiple crises—from the Gulf oil spill to climate change— devastating our environment and communities will lead to the creation of a Department of Natural Resources? And would it make a difference?

Huffington Post, June 21
DECISIVE DAYS FOR OUR OCEANS
Julie Packard

There's nothing good to say about the Gulf oil catastrophe, except this: it has focused national attention on the health of our oceans as never before. In the midst of this human and ecological tragedy, we have the opportunity to come to our senses and to do the right thing on behalf of our oceans that sustain us in so many ways.

Santa Barbara Independent, July 4
WHAT WILL BE LEGACY OF DEEPWATER HORIZON TRAGEDY?
Hopefully a New National Plan, Spelled Out in Ocean Policy Task Force Policies
Linda Krop

While we need some immediate regulatory reform to make existing offshore oil development safer, we must also be as bold and forward-thinking as we were in 1969. A legacy of a new and more effective environmental paradigm is the only possible silver lining to be found in this unthinkable catastrophe. First, Congress needs to enact a National Ocean Policy. We have a myriad of laws protecting our onshore land, water, and air, but no comprehensive law that protects our oceans, despite the fact that the oceans comprise 70 percent of the earth and provide our planet with food, water, and climate stabilization.

The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force

Obama Administration officials released the Final Recommendations of the Ocean Policy Task Force on July 19, 2010, which would establish a National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Coasts, and Great Lakes (National Policy) and create a National Ocean Council (NOC) to strengthen ocean governance and coordination... Read More

Wear Blue for Oceans

Don't Be Blue, Just Wear Blue on January 13th - Support a national ocean policy.

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The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force

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