Balta1701 Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 Well, I have to admit, I'm thoroughly impressed. George W. Bush seems to have actually done something wonderful for the environment. And as far as I can tell, there's no cynical reason behind it at all. It actually is a genuinely good environmental move. Link. President Bush today will create the world's largest marine protected area, a total of 140,000 square miles of Pacific Ocean surrounding a necklace of islands and atolls that stretch from the main Hawaiian Islands to Midway Atoll and beyond, senior administration officials said. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands National Monument will be larger than all of America's national parks combined. Fishing will be phased out, and the mining of coral for jewelry will be prohibited, along with other practices that can damage delicate reefs. "With a stroke of a pen, the president not only can accomplish the single largest act of conservation in U.S. history, but he can inspire the American public on the broader importance of our ocean and coastal environments," said a senior administration official who requested anonymity so as to not upstage Bush's announcement today. The decision is a turnaround for the administration, which five years ago considered stripping more limited protections from the area that President Clinton had declared a coral reef ecosystem reserve. It's also a sharp departure for an administration that has pushed to privatize some federal lands and has designated less wilderness than most presidents over the last 40 years. A turning point came in April, when Bush sat through a 65-minute private White House screening of a PBS documentary that unveiled the beauty of — and perils facing — the archipelago's aquamarine waters and its nesting seabirds, sea turtles and sleepy-eyed monk seals, all threatened by extinction. The film seemed to catch Bush's imagination, according to senior officials and others in attendance. The president popped up from his front-row seat after the screening; congratulated filmmaker Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the late underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau; and urged the White House staff to get moving on protecting these waters. Sure, it's a gigantic flip-flop. Sure, Big Pearl will probably send people around to his campaign stops throwing flip-flops at him. But I have to admit, I'm thoroughly impressed. Personally I hope they still let us occasionally take a few drill cores for scientific purposes (Hawaii=interesting), but for Bush to literally go out and 100% change his mind on an environmental rule, to the point of admitting he was wrong to oppose Clinton Administration rules, and then going beyond anything the Clintons had tried to do...well, like I said, I'm impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasonxctf Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 agreed. this is the 2nd positive thing i've seen from gwb in the past day. the other being taking the high road and calling to apologize to a reporter he made fun of for wearing sunglasses. the guy had some sort of medical condition in which the glasses help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaSoxxJim Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 Also very pleased to see this happen. I'm interested in knowing the speed with which fishing will be phased out and what types are included, but this is a unique system in serious need of protection. It will also be interesting to see the reactions from Hawaii's pro-development camps to the upland usage regulations that will almost certainly come of this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex Kickass Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 QUOTE(jasonxctf @ Jun 15, 2006 -> 12:26 PM) agreed. this is the 2nd positive thing i've seen from gwb in the past day. the other being taking the high road and calling to apologize to a reporter he made fun of for wearing sunglasses. the guy had some sort of medical condition in which the glasses help. Yeah, its called blindness. :-) The President has done some positive things lately. Kudos for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthSideSox72 Posted June 15, 2006 Share Posted June 15, 2006 I agree with all of these posts. Kudos to Mr. Bush, who had spent most of his term as the worst environmental president in my lifetime. This is a big move, and the right one. to you, W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kapkomet Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 it's getting too fuzzy wuzzy in here. /pulls up the crap kickers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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