Dubya's National Marine Sanctuary
Ever since the news broke that dubya created the world's largest marine sanctuary, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument, June 15, 2006, I've been trying to make sense of it. On its face, it sure is a good thing, however admittedly, I have not read the small print. Call me a skeptic. This from the Seattlepi: President Bush's creation of a huge sanctuary in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands is something you don't see everyday.Being the skeptic that I am, I've been searching and searching for why dubya did such a commendable and altruistic deed. It's so not like him. Really. Then, I found it:
He created the world's biggest marine protected area. He earned rare praise from environmentalists for saving the home of whales, large coral colonies and the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. Native Hawaiian groups said they can now hope for proper protection of a sacred area.
It was also Bill Clinton-like. By creating only his second national monument (vs. 19 for Clinton), Bush avoided second-guessing by Congress and periodic reviews of the protections. Big, bold and lasting: that's a fine combination.
Bush Establishes World's Largest Ocean Reserve; areas northwest of Hawaii to remain protected until oil is discovered.Now, it all makes sense. I feel better now.
posted by Dusty Dog at
6/18/2006
2 comment(s):
Well, yes, though I prefer the headline "FEMA Report Recommends Dismantling Bush Administration."
But why do you think he did it? My guess would be that its a cheap way to get some environmental credit with moderates. Have you heard anything?
By
Anonymous, at
10:03 PM
Actually, from what I've read, the area has virtually no commercial fishing. And, of course, no oil. There is no commercial interest in the area at all, except maybe tourism. It wasn't being degraded, so the action is just a false pretense. He protected it from nothing. Scoring credits is all it's about.
Unlike Clinton's move to use the Antiquities Act to protect Grand Escalante, which WAS being degraded on a huge scale by developers and oil drilling and off road vehicles, etc. His move actually did protect an area from active degradation, which of course occurs from commercial interests.
The marine sanctuary was an empty gesture to accomplish only one thing - score empty points for the emptiest of heads. It's disgusting.
By
Dusty Dog, at
6:34 AM
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