baby_bear posted this in LBN but it belongs here too.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/200493_oceans20.htmlSaturday, November 20, 2004
Bush unlikely to back ocean reform
Critics fear they'll get no protections, just status quo
By JOAN LOWY
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
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Despite warnings that the nation's ocean territories are facing an ecological crisis, President Bush is unlikely to endorse major reforms in federal oceans management recommended by a landmark commission. James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, has been spearheading an interagency effort to respond to more than 200 recommendations made by the congressionally mandated U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, whose members were appointed by Bush.
...
That response is tentatively scheduled to be unveiled on Dec. 20, but commission members and oceans experts who have been closely following the interagency effort said it appears the White House will not propose the key reforms or seek the significant increases in funding recommended by the commission.
Instead, the White House appears to be leaning toward "giving us a menu of all the wonderful things they are doing right now and saying they believe they can handle it within the current (government) structure and so forth," said retired Adm. James Watkins, a former secretary of energy who was chairman of the oceans commission. "We would be very upset to see the status quo being delivered publicly as an adequate response," Watkins said.
...
Connaughton, an attorney who represented major manufacturers and oil and mining companies before he was tapped by Bush to head the environmental council, said he is functioning as the White House's ocean adviser and may continue to serve in that role.
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Is there no end to the destruction this asshole president is willing to allow??