Welcome to Ocean Watch; a weekly recap of federal and regional
actions that impact the coastal and marine water quality and ecosystems of the
Mid-Atlantic Ocean. Clean Ocean Action will aggregate and analyze these
actions, and signify the impact and threat level to the Mid-Atlantic using
color coding – Red is a high level threat, orange is intermediate, yellow is a
caution, and green would be a positive action. While many of these actions have
taken place in Washington DC, and don’t affect the mid-Atlantic directly, the
direction of national energy, climate, and regulatory policy will have
implications and impacts for the mid-Atlantic region.
Executive
Order Alert!
On Friday, President Trump signed an executive order designed to
impose additional roadblocks to government regulators ranging from FDA to EPA.
The EO, titled “Enforcing the Regulatory Reform
Agenda, designates
officials within government agencies to monitor rule-making and identify needed
policy changes. A familiar refrain from Trump has been and continues to be “Excessive regulation is killing
jobs”, even while many independent analyses of environmental regulations show
clear economic benefits from regulating
pollution from powerplants, and other efforts. (http://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news/new-report-disproves-trump-administration-claims-of-job-killing-environmental-regulations/).
Bannon Lays Out
the End Goal
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and chief
strategist Steve Bannon both spoke at the Conservative Political Action
Conference, and bragged about their early efforts to revamp how the federal
government imposes regulations. The most interesting and alarming statement was
made by Bannon, and cuts right to the core of the last 4 week’s executive
orders and nominations: “I think the consistent, if you look at
these Cabinet appointees, they were selected for a reason and that is the
deconstruction, the way the progressive left runs, is if they can't get it
passed, they're just gonna put in some sort of regulation in — in an agency. That's
all gonna be deconstructed and I think that that's why this regulatory thing is
so important.”
When Steve Bannon casually mentions the “deconstruction” of regulations,
remember that he is talking about clean water and air, habitat and species, and
public health. Bannon's comment clarifies why agency appointments have generally been directly hostile to the mission and purpose of the agency they are meant to head. Their job directive is clear; to dismantle regulatory controls.
Pruitt’s Communications
While Scott Pruitt has been confirmed as EPA Administrator, thousands of emails and communications from Pruitt’s time as Oklahoma Attorney General were released this week as a result of an Open Records Act request and eventual lawsuit by the Center for Media and Democracy. Many Senate and Congress Representatives called for the release of these documents prior to the confirmation vote. Unfortunately that did not happen. However, as these records are sorted and read through, it is clear that the well-known relationship between Pruitt and the fossil fuel industry will be further illuminated.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, repeatedly requested that Pruitt disclose such communications during Pruitt’s Senate confirmation. Rather than release them, Pruitt referred Whitehouse and other colleagues to his office’s Oklahoma Open Records Act process—the same process that forced the Center for Media and Democracy to wait over two years to receive a response. Whitehouse released the following statement today on the newly released emails:
“These emails, which Scott Pruitt wanted to keep from public view, show an elected official cultivating a cozy relationship with regulated industries as he helped them through his official work. Seeing industry representatives fawning over Pruitt’s efforts to attack the EPA, it’s clear that this information should have been closely examined by the Senate as we considered his nomination to run that agency. But even after Republicans rammed his confirmation through and a court ordered the materials released, we still don’t have the full picture. The Center for Media and Democracy and others are waiting on troves of documents related to Scott Pruitt’s work on behalf of the polluters he now regulates. The American people must know the full extent of that relationship.”
Zinke
Nomination progressing - slowly
The nomination of Representative Ryan Zinke (R- MT) to lead the
Department of Interior, will likely be delayed until Marsg as the U.S. Senate goes on a week-long break starting this
weekend, and returns the week of Feb. 27. Zinke has been a mixed bag in terms
of his environmental credentials – strong at times on advocating for public
access to public land and for certain stewardship goals related to hunting and
fishing management, yet also a very troubling record of voting against the protection of endangered
species — and for fossil fuel development and other extractive industries on
public lands. Zinke also has strong financial ties to the oil and gas industry
— which has given him more than $300,000 during his political career. The arc of his career suggests
that he will work to privatize public lands for private benefit; for logging,
fossil fuel, and other extractive interests.
YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED!
·
The executive
orders and congressional actions of the last week have reinforced how vital it
is that every citizen engage with their elected officials. In this day and age
of instant communication, there is no excuse for not contacting your elected
officials. Use the links below to find your representatives and let them know
how important clean water and strong environmental protections are.
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Federal:
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State Level:
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For NJ residents,
contact your State Senate and Assembly Representatives: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/njmap210.html
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For NY residents,
contact your State Senate and Assembly Representatives: http://www.elections.ny.gov/district-map/district-map.html
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