Ithaca 37
New member
I'm cautiously giving Dubya some credit for this: 
"WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) is creating a White House committee to oversee the nation's ocean policies, with plans to improve research, manage fisheries better and regulate pollution caused by boats.
Responding to a presidential commission, Bush signed an executive order Friday to launch the Committee on Ocean Policy.
"We also are moving forward with dozens of actions on a near-term time basis," said James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
The increased focus on the problems of the world's oceans comes in response to more than 200 recommendations from a presidential commission that reported in September on 2 1/2 years of study. The recommendations included better coordination of national ocean policy through new councils and advisers within the White House and creation of a $4 billion government trust fund to pay for new ocean initiatives. The president has not agreed to the trust fund.
Bush is going beyond the commission's work with some of his own recommendations, however, such as reducing air pollution from marine vessels, both nationally and internationally.
A market system for managing fisheries would use tools such as individual fishing quotas to cut down on regulation and improve safety at sea, officials said. Bush also has ordered Cabinet agencies to pay more heed to what private landowners, states and local governments say about managing the environment, the subject of an executive order in August.
James Watkins, a retired admiral and former chief of naval operations who chaired the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, had predicted the trust fund would be a tough sell politically. At a time when Bush is trying to rein in spending, it would mean annual diversion of about four-fifths of the $5 billion in royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling and other payments that now goes to the Treasury. Congress would have to approve it.
On Friday, after meeting with Bush in the Oval Office for his signing of the executive order, Watkins described Bush's response to the recommendations as a promising first step that will set in motion the important process of developing an ocean policy.
"The president has spoken of the need for fundamental change in core government operations, and we hope that his plan will extend this vision to our nation's oceans, coasts and Great Lakes," said Watkins, who was the first President Bush's energy secretary.
Watkins and commission staff were analyzing Bush's response and what money might be available, he said. In any event, he said, the president's "continuing leadership and a serious commitment to funding are essential in setting the course for a new national ocean policy."
The commission will end its existence formally on Sunday.
Leon Panetta, who led an independent Pew Oceans Commission that issued a separate report, said Bush's response "at least indicates an awareness of the crisis facing our oceans."
"We strongly recommend a national ocean policy be enacted that commits the country to protecting our oceans," said Panetta, former President Clinton (news - web sites)'s White House chief of staff.
Environmentalists' reactions were mixed.
Some said they were encouraged by Bush's plan. Gerald Leape of the National Environmental Trust praised the White House reorganization. He complained, however, that new money would be needed for any significant fixes, and he said Bush's approach to fisheries — dividing the total allowable catch and assigning portions of it to fishermen — essentially would privatize fisheries."
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041218/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_oceans
"WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) is creating a White House committee to oversee the nation's ocean policies, with plans to improve research, manage fisheries better and regulate pollution caused by boats.
Responding to a presidential commission, Bush signed an executive order Friday to launch the Committee on Ocean Policy.
"We also are moving forward with dozens of actions on a near-term time basis," said James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
The increased focus on the problems of the world's oceans comes in response to more than 200 recommendations from a presidential commission that reported in September on 2 1/2 years of study. The recommendations included better coordination of national ocean policy through new councils and advisers within the White House and creation of a $4 billion government trust fund to pay for new ocean initiatives. The president has not agreed to the trust fund.
Bush is going beyond the commission's work with some of his own recommendations, however, such as reducing air pollution from marine vessels, both nationally and internationally.
A market system for managing fisheries would use tools such as individual fishing quotas to cut down on regulation and improve safety at sea, officials said. Bush also has ordered Cabinet agencies to pay more heed to what private landowners, states and local governments say about managing the environment, the subject of an executive order in August.
James Watkins, a retired admiral and former chief of naval operations who chaired the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, had predicted the trust fund would be a tough sell politically. At a time when Bush is trying to rein in spending, it would mean annual diversion of about four-fifths of the $5 billion in royalties from offshore oil and gas drilling and other payments that now goes to the Treasury. Congress would have to approve it.
On Friday, after meeting with Bush in the Oval Office for his signing of the executive order, Watkins described Bush's response to the recommendations as a promising first step that will set in motion the important process of developing an ocean policy.
"The president has spoken of the need for fundamental change in core government operations, and we hope that his plan will extend this vision to our nation's oceans, coasts and Great Lakes," said Watkins, who was the first President Bush's energy secretary.
Watkins and commission staff were analyzing Bush's response and what money might be available, he said. In any event, he said, the president's "continuing leadership and a serious commitment to funding are essential in setting the course for a new national ocean policy."
The commission will end its existence formally on Sunday.
Leon Panetta, who led an independent Pew Oceans Commission that issued a separate report, said Bush's response "at least indicates an awareness of the crisis facing our oceans."
"We strongly recommend a national ocean policy be enacted that commits the country to protecting our oceans," said Panetta, former President Clinton (news - web sites)'s White House chief of staff.
Environmentalists' reactions were mixed.
Some said they were encouraged by Bush's plan. Gerald Leape of the National Environmental Trust praised the White House reorganization. He complained, however, that new money would be needed for any significant fixes, and he said Bush's approach to fisheries — dividing the total allowable catch and assigning portions of it to fishermen — essentially would privatize fisheries."
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041218/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_oceans
