Ocean Politics
jjacquet | October 2, 2007Posted by Dave Wilmot, dave@oceanchampions.org
Throughout last week in Washington, DC members of Congress, philanthropists and ocean advocates emphasized the importance of bipartisanship when it comes to protecting the oceans (and commended Ocean Champions for leading the way). I didn't necessarily expect it. You don't have to be a political insider to know that Washington, DC is many things but bipartisan isn't one of them. Yet, while our bipartisan approach is rare today, it may come as a surprise to some that the current polarized alignment, especially in the House of Representatives,…
jjacquet | September 25, 2007Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
For those of us who follow the world of ocean politics (and politics generally), Leon Panetta is the closest thing we have to a rock star. Panetta served as the chairman of the Pew Oceans Commission, and prior to that was President Clinton's Chief of Staff, head of the Office of Management & Budget, and a seven-term Congressman from Sam Farr's current district (Monterey/Santa Cruz). He was the guy who brought all the players together to create the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and was a major force in creating the still-standing…
jjacquet | September 21, 2007The Canadian government has decided to cut spending on Environment Canada programs that address climate change by 80 percent. This budget cut comes in spite of "...poll after poll show[ing] environment and climate change are top of the list of Canadians' concerns." Read more here.
jjacquet | September 18, 2007Posted by Traci Reid, traci@oceanchampions.org
Wouldn't it be great if we could just get together people who know and care about the oceans with the people who make the political decisions concerning ocean protection? Not in any sort of pretentious or overly formal way, - no committees, hearings, "have my people contact your people", or - ahem, suggestive bathroom stall behavior. Just the right combination of really smart people with a shared vision of ocean protection. Sitting down over a beer. Exchanging ideas. Wouldn't that be a good thing?
Oh wait, we ARE doing that very thing, next…
jjacquet | September 11, 2007The New York Times reports today that Florida Republican Governor Charlie Crist asked to delay the vote today to reclassify the gentle, gigantic manatee as threatened (rather than endangered). The Governor hopes the delay will give the panel more time to review the issues, including the fact that there were 417 manatee deaths last year and will ultimately "preserve one of our state's beloved natural resources."
It takes backbone to protect manatees (the grace of Fred Astaire, the body of Fred Flintstone) from the coalition of Florida speedboaters.
jjacquet | September 4, 2007Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
O.K., I know that "Politics Tuesday" is supposed to be about D.C. politics, not mass mobilization, but what's a political junkie to do when Congress is on vacation but think about how to move the masses who don't seem to care about your issue?
Congress is finally back in session today, and so hopefully we'll have some scoop to report next week. Word on the street is that we may start to see some action on OCEANS-21.
In the meantime, though, let's finish up the mass mobilization thread, because it's really a crucial piece of politics as it's…
jjacquet | August 28, 2007Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
I'd like to go a little farther with points that both Dave and Randy have made in the last week, and that's the relationship between a mobilized constituency and our ability to achieve real political change for the oceans. I'm fond of saying that politicians need two things - money and votes - and if you can't get them either of those things (and preferably both), then there's a limit to what they will do for you.
One of the reasons that Dave and I started Ocean Champions was to be able to participate in the political game, and to give…
jjacquet | August 21, 2007Posted by David Wilmot, dave@oceanchampions.org
In honor of the Congressional recess, Ocean Champions is taking a blog vacation this week. However, I can't resist following Jennifer's lead on Joan Walsh's review at Salon.com of Bai's book The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics. By the way, Jennifer is correct - the article is worth a quick read.
Here is what caught my attention:
"Let me be clear: Like Bai, I would like to see more political will (the ideas are there; it's a mobilized constituency behind a few key ideas that's missing) to do…
jjacquet | August 21, 2007This is Politics Tuesday and the Ocean Champions should be by any moment. In the meanwhile, I found something politically charged and provocative over at Salon.com. Joan Walsh reviews Matt Bai's book The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics, which she describes as a "heralded anatomy of Democratic disarray in the Bush years".
Bai implicates left-wing bloggers in what he sees as a two-part crime that will cripple the Democratic party: the failure to put together a big, bold social policy for the 21st century, and the "disabling hatred" of George W.…
jjacquet | August 14, 2007Posted by David Wilmot, dave@oceanchampions.org
Turd Blossom quit! Amazingly, instead of jail he's going back to Texas (please, no Texas jokes). August is typically a quiet month in Washington DC. Karl Rove, President Bush's most trusted advisor, among other things, shattered the calm with his surprise announcement that he will leave Bush's side later this month (and make millions of dollars telling his story). I can't think of any specific impact his departure will have on our oceans. Yet, to my disappointment, I believe Rove's legacy may well include a shifted baseline.
Partisan politics…
jjacquet | August 7, 2007Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
With Congress in recess, there's not a lot going on in DC, so I'd like to talk a little more about the red tide funding authorization pushed through the House by Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fl.) two weeks ago. One of the great things about Castor's amendment is that it is the result of a bipartisan collaboration between Castor and Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fl.). These two got together earlier this year to introduce the Save Our Shores Act (HR 1091), whose purpose is to fund and streamline HAB research.
Mack and Castor are both from Florida's Gulf Coast and…
jjacquet | August 5, 2007The Galapagos Marine Reserve has trouble with illegal shark finning and a couple solutions--namely decent laws and several individuals fighting the daily Galapagos grind to keep those laws intact and sometimes enforced. One of these individuals is Sean O'Hearn of Sea Shepherd International. And he was just thrown in jail for his efforts.
In 2000, Sean came to Galapagos onbaord a Sea Shepherd boat and decided not to leave. He had grown up in Puerto Rico and settled snuggly into the island life of Galapagos with his perfect Spanish and easy attitude. He was quickly nicknamed 'leche en funda…
jjacquet | July 31, 2007Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
Well how about some good news for a change? Last week Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fl) pushed through the House an amendment to authorize $90 million over three years for research into the causes of red tide and other harmful algal blooms (HAB). Here's our press release.
Red tide is a huge problem in coastal areas, causing everything from fish kills to severe allergic reactions in some people. These impacts can have pretty negative economic repercussions, especially for tourist-dependent economies.
The most disturbing consequences though, are what…
jjacquet | July 24, 2007Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
So what are the lessons about fish politics (and politics generally) from last week's silly flap about the Patagonian toothfish that Al Gore ate at the rehearsal dinner at his daughter's wedding?
People expect a level of perfection out of politicians that they don't expect of themselves. Granted that Al Gore has become a potent (and at times hypocritical) symbol of the environmental movement, but do we really expect him to pay any attention to the menu at an event that the groom's family was paying for? Was he really supposed to make a scene…
jjacquet | July 16, 2007Posted by Dr. David Wilmot, dave@oceanchampions.org
When I returned from Washington, DC last weekend, my son told me he will learn (8th grade social studies) how we make laws. I can imagine his textbook will have a neatly drawn two-page diagram of the process, with each step fitting precisely in a box.
As we all know, our process is neither neat nor precise. Democracy is messy. A bill may travel through the process but instead of fitting into boxes, it spills over the edges, through the halls, and out in the streets.
Enter the Ocean Conservation, Education, and National Strategy for the…
jjacquet | July 9, 2007Posted by Dr. David Wilmot, dave@oceanchampions.org
I just arrived in Washington, DC. I'm back for another round of meetings with members of Congress (and to attend fundraisers for a couple Ocean Champions.) As the plane touched down, I found my thoughts drifting from Capitol Hill back to the North Shore of O'ahu.
I recently returned from a trip to Hawaii (a little work and a lot of play), where some local activists inspired me. A small group of individuals have spent the past 22 years fighting to protect a swath of land that sits above Sunset Beach and Pipeline on O'ahu's famed North Shore…
jjacquet | July 2, 2007Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
This week, I'm going to start with another tidbit from last week's theme of how far we've come in a year, and then pivot to global warming as an "ocean issue," and posit the question of whether it is the ocean issue that eclipses all others.
Here's the clip from Reuters:
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, aiming to put an end to the debate over whether global warming is actually occurring, passed legislation recognizing the "reality" of climate change and providing money to work on the problem....
By inserting a declaration in the…
jjacquet | June 25, 2007Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
A couple of weeks ago, the Senate "easily" beat back a proposal by Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) to open the coast of Virginia to drilling for natural gas.
My what a difference a year makes! It seems like just yesterday that we were battling one bad proposal to open our coasts to offshore drilling after another.
The reality is that it was last summer, and conservationists ultimately had to agree to a deal that let the oil industry drill in a new part of the Gulf of Mexico as the price for protecting the moratorium that banned new drilling off the…
jjacquet | June 25, 2007Posted by Jack Sterne, jack@oceanchampions.org
As I talked about earlier, last November millions of voters changed the face of Congress, and conservationists made headlines for playing significant roles in the elections.
We're now starting to see some of the fruits of those efforts in the ocean arena
For instance, this week alone, lawmakers in both the House and Senate are set to vote on several ocean bills including:
-HR 1205 (Rep. Faleomavaega): Would reauthorize The Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 and create a coral reef task force and expand the coral reef conservation program. The…
jjacquet | June 18, 2007Posted by Dr. David Wilmot, dave@oceanchampions.org
Last week I made the case that if you care about good public policy, you should care about politics. I suspect my strong bias that the key to ultimate success in the public policy arena is political power/leverage with elected officials came through loud and clear. Now taking a step back, where does communication fit in? In our Turning the Tide report, public communication and grassroots support are the foundation for building political strength, while lobbying and direct involvement in the electoral process gives this foundation a voice…