Oceans
Obama Administration Releases National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan
Yesterday, the National Ocean Council released the Obama Administration’s much anticipated plan for implementing the National Ocean Policy. The newly released National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan identifies practical, efficient, and responsible actions that Federal agencies will take to support healthy, productive, and resilient ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters, thriving coastal communities, and a robust, …
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CONTINUE READINGPoll Shows Vast Majority of Americans Favor Sea-Level Rise Adaptation. Now, Time to Start Planning.
Stanford University’s Woods Institute for the Environment and the Center for Ocean Solutions recently released the results of a survey finding that the majority of Americans favor proactive sea-level rise adaptation actions. According to the survey results (margin of error: +/- 4.9% at the 95 percent confidence level), 82 percent of the Americans surveyed said …
CONTINUE READINGWhale Wars in the Courtroom
Earlier today, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-whaling activist group—and the only environmental group with its own reality television series—petitioned the nation’s highest court. In its petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, Sea Shepherd seeks review of a December 17, 2012 injunction from Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski that prevents the Sea …
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CONTINUE READINGSupreme Court overturns Ninth Circuit decision that held L.A. County Flood Control District liable for stormwater pollution in a poorly-reasoned, but narrow, decision
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense Council. I’ve blogged about this case before, noting that the Supreme Court’s grant of review in this case was based on a completely mistaken premise. (If you’re unfamiliar with the case, the linked post explains in …
CONTINUE READINGLooking Ahead to 2050
Since New Year’s Eve is both a time for nostalgia and for looking ahead, it seems appropriate to see what the world will look like at mid-century. The world will be facing considerable challenges then. The population will be bigger. The United Nations predicts that the world population will grow by 2 billion to 9 …
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CONTINUE READINGDo GMO Salmon Pose an Environmental Threat?
GMO fish are one step closer to sale in the U.S., reports the LA Times: After more than a decade in regulatory limbo, genetically engineered Atlantic salmon that grow faster than their naturally born counterparts moved closer to American plates, with the publication Friday of a government report that found the fish wouldn’t hurt the …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Significance of NOAA’s Recent Proposal to Protect 66 Coral Species
Citing threats associated with climate change, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) proposed on December 7, 2012 to list 66 coral species under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”), and to reclassify two already-listed Caribbean coral species from “threatened” to “endangered.” According to NOAA Fisheries, this was “the most complex listing process NOAA has ever …
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CONTINUE READINGJane Lubchenco to leave NOAA
Cross-posted at CPRBlog. NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco has announced that she will leave her post at the end of February. Her letter to NOAA employees, reprinted in the Washington Post, cites the difficulty of maintaining a bi-coastal family life. Dr. Lubchenco, a distinguished marine biologist, has put in four years at the helm of NOAA, …
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CONTINUE READINGThe strange saga of how Los Angeles County’s stormwater pollution ended up in the Supreme Court
Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense Council. This case involves a lawsuit by clean-water advocates to require our County Flood Control District to take responsibility for ensuring that polluted stormwater doesn’t impair our local water quality in two local rivers. The Ninth …
CONTINUE READINGBP Agrees to Plead Guilty to Felony Charges Arising Out of Deepwater Horizon Disaster
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that British Petroleum has agreed to plead guilty to felony charges stemming from the Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 workers and precipitated the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. As part of the plea bargain, BP has agreed to pay the federal government $4.5 billion in penalties, including …
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