WASHINGTON, DC, February 26, 2009 (ENS) – “Gary knows the American Dream. He’s lived it. And that’s why he shares my commitment to do whatever it takes to keep it alive in our time,” President Barack Obama said Wednesday, announcing former Washington Governor Gary Locke as his choice to lead the Commerce Department.

“It is the task of the Department of Commerce to help create conditions in which our workers can prosper, our businesses can thrive, and our economy can grow,” the President said. “That’s what Gary did in Washington state, convincing businesses to set up shop and create the jobs of the 21st century – jobs in science and technology; agriculture and energy – jobs that pay well and can’t be shipped overseas.”

Locke is President Obama’s third choice to fill the position of Commerce Secretary. First, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat, bowed out because a grand jury is investigating a state contract. Then, after having approached the White House seeking the position, Republican Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire backed out, citing philosophical differences with the President.

Accepting the nomination at the White House, Locke was the first of the nominees to mention the environmental aspect of the job.

“The Department of Commerce plays a critical role in nurturing innovation, expanding global markets, protecting and managing our ocean fisheries, and fostering economic growth,” said Secretary-designate Locke. “The Department of Commerce can and will help create the jobs and the economic vitality our nation needs.”

Gary Locke, left, accepts the nomination as Secretary of Commerce from President Barack Obama, center, as Vice President Joe Biden applauds. February 25, 2009. (Photo by Pete Souza courtesy The White House)

The Department of Commerce includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is responsible for fisheries management, the National Weather Service and climate research. 

If confirmed by the Senate, Locke will be the first Chinese-American Secretary of Commerce, and the third Asian American in Obama’s cabinet, joining Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu and Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, the most of any administration in U.S. history.

Locke served two terms as governor of Washington from 1997-2005. After leaving office, Locke joined the Seattle office of the international law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, in their China and governmental relations practice groups.

As governor, Locke was one of the first to enact regulations to limit climate change, citing the absence of a Bush administration policy to combat global warming.

In May 2005 Locke signed regulations into law requiring new power plants that burn fossil fuels to offset 20 percent of their carbon dioxide emissions. Utilities can mitigate a new plant’s emissions by investing in projects such as planting trees, which absorb carbon dioxide, or converting transit buses from diesel to cleaner-burning natural gas.

In 2003, the Democratic governors of California, Oregon and Washington, including Locke, agreed to cooperate in reducing greenhouse gas emissions on the West Coast through moves such as buying more hybrid cars for state government fleets, limiting the idling of diesel engines, and encouraging the increased use of renewable energy and energy-efficient appliances.

As governor, Locke was in step with the National Governors Association on a wide range of environmental issues.

Lock sought more state autonomy on brownfields and Superfund cleanups. He said, “Since the law was enacted in 1980, the Superfund program has caused significant amounts of litigation, while cleanup of hazardous waste sites has not been as fast or effective as the statute envisioned. In addition, states have not had the necessary tools or funding from the federal government to adequately clean up state sites.”

He supported application of “Good Samaritan” rules to abandoned mine cleanup, saying, “The Western Governors believe the Clean Water Act should be amended to protect a remediating agency from becoming legally responsible for any continuing discharges from the abandoned mine site after completion of a cleanup project, provided that the remediating agency, or ‘Good Samaritan,’ does not otherwise have liability for that abandoned or inactive mine site and attempts to improve the conditions at the site.

As governor, Locke held that the states should retain primary jurisdiction over water quantity issues, water resource allocation and the determination of beneficial uses.

He backed collaborative, incentive driven, locally-based solutions to water quality restoration, which he said is “essential for economic and environmental sustainability of forestry, agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing, recreation and public water supply.”

In 2003, Governor Locke asked the U.S. Navy for an explanation of the use of sonar that may have disrupted whales and caused the death of porpoises north of Seattle.

As governor, Locke also made endangered Chinook salmon preservation a priority.

By 1999, wild salmon had disappeared from about 40 percent of their historic breeding ranges in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California. In Washington, the numbers had dwindled so much that salmon were threatened or endangered in nearly three-fourths of the state.

Governor Locke and the Legislature began a series of steps to reverse the trend, renegotiating the U.S.-Canada agreement, establishing conservation goals in rivers shared with Idaho and Oregon, and funding salmon restoration and protection projects.

“In every area of the state, we’ve gotten people together to talk about the future of our salmon, and we’ve backed those discussions with funding and resources to turn the people’s vision into reality,” Locke said in 2004. “Today, every watershed with salmon has at least one citizens’ volunteer group working to restore and enhance habitats on which the fish depend.”

If he is confirmed as Commerce Secretary, Locke will be in an even stronger position to promote salmon restoration and recovery.

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TAMPA, Florida, February 4, 2009 (ENS) – Sea turtles in the eastern Gulf of Mexico could soon get more protection if the federal government approves an emergency request from a federal fisheries management agency to temporarily halt the use of fishing gear that injures and kills them.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council Thursday voted to request a temporary emergency rule prohibiting bottom longline reef fishing in waters less than 300 feet deep for the entire eastern Gulf of Mexico.

While sea turtles are not the longliners’ target species, the fishing gear still catches turtles in their offshore habitat on the west Florida shelf of the eastern Gulf.

Six species of sea turtles – loggerhead, leatherback, olive ridley, Kemp’s ridley,green, and hawksbill – that occur in the Gulf of Mexico are federally listed as either threatened or endangered

A 2006-2007 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service shows that the number of loggerhead sea turtles that have been caught in the bottom longline fishery exceeded authorized levels.

Loggerhead sea turtle on the shore of Tampa Bay (Photo by Dennis Adair)

Loggerhead sea turtles accounted for 799 of the 974 captured turtles in the government report, more than three times the number of loggerheads the Service authorized the fishery to take in 2005.

The temporary emergency rule would reduce the fishing impacts on this threatened species until the Gulf Fishery Management Council can further develop a reef fish plan amendment that will address the issue in the long term.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission today said it supports the council’s request.

“We are extremely pleased with and supportive of the Gulf council’s proposal to reduce sea turtle injury and mortality associated with this fishing activity,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto.

If the NOAA Fisheries Service implements the Gulf council’s proposed emergency rule, it would be in effect for 180 days, and it could be extended for an additional 186 days.

The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional fishery management councils established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act for the purpose of managing fisheries in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone.

States with voting representation on the council include Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi.

On January 13, conservation groups served the NOAA Fisheries Service with a 60 day notice of their intent to sue if the agency does not act immediately to protect sea turtles from longliners in the Gulf of Mexico.

The groups are seeking the kind of suspension that the council voted on Thursday to request.

Even though the bottom longline fishery has far exceeded the number of turtles it is allowed to take under the Endangered Species Act, to date the NOAA Fisheries Service has declined to close the fishery while it studies options for reducing turtle bycatch.

Now, under the Obama administration, its decision on the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s request could be different.

“The National Marine Fisheries Service is responsible both for managing fisheries and for protecting endangered species,” said Sierra Weaver, an attorney with Defenders of Wildlife. “Our sincere hope is that the agency will take seriously its responsibility for the sea turtles threatened by longline fishing and will move quickly to protect them without the need for a court order.”

Click here to read the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council’s 88 page analysis of sea turtle bycatch in the Gulf’s reef fish bottom longline fishery.

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WASHINGTON, DC, February 3, 2009 (ENS) – President Barack Obama today named U.S. Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, a Republican, to fill the slot of Commerce Secretary in his cabinet.

If confirmed by the Senate, Gregg will join Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a total of three Republicans in the Obama Cabinet.

The President called his former Senate colleague a “master of reaching across the aisle” and complimented his “strict fiscal discipline.” But Obama mentioned no environmental credentials for his choice, although the Department of Commerce governs the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA.

From left, Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Judd Gregg, President Barack Obama (Photo courtesy The White House)

NOAA has many environmental functions including the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; the National Marine Fisheries Service; the National Ocean Service; the National Weather Service; and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

“The Commerce Department has a broad and interesting portfolio,” Senator Gregg said today, “but its primary goal must be to create jobs by promoting industry, promoting economic activity, and promoting excellence in science. And I intend to pursue those avenues aggressively.”

A former congressman from 1980-1988, and a governor of New Hampshire from 1989-1993, Gregg has been serving in the Senate since 1993, and is currently ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee.

In the Senate, Gregg has a record of supporting commercial exploitation of resources, including offshore drilling, over environmental protection, although he has voted for some conservation measures.

The League of Conservation Voters’ Scorecard for the 2008 session of Congress scored Gregg at just nine percent for pro-environmental votes. His total LCV score since 1993 is 44 percent.

Republicans for Environmental Protection, a nonprofit group, issued Gregg an “environmental harm demerit” for sponsoring a Fiscal Year 2007 budget resolution that used the congressional budget process to force oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

On March 16, 2006 the Senate passed the resolution by a 51-49 vote. In the House, pro-conservation Republicans stood with Democrats to ensure that Arctic drilling was not included in the House budget resolution. The two bills were never reconciled in conference, so the Arctic refuge remains protected.

Backpackers in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Photo by Out in Alaska)

REP said drilling in the refuge “would perpetuate America’s dangerous oil dependence and damage the most scenic, wildlife-rich reserve in the circumpolar north.”

He has voted against environmental funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund and did not vote to fund programs for conserving public lands and wildlife, oceans, coasts, water and farmland.

On the other hand, REP praised Gregg for helping secure passage of S. 4001, the New England Wilderness Act, which designated as wilderness nearly 35,000 acres of forests, mountains, and streams in New Hampshire and 42,000 acres in Vermont.

REP’s 2007 Congressional Scorecard rated Gregg as fourth best Republican in the Senate for environmental voting.

The University of New Hampshire renamed its Environmental Technology Building Gregg Hall, because Gregg used earmarks to secure $266 million of federal funds for research and development projects for the university.

The Judd Gregg Meteorology Institute, established in 2003, is the center of meteorological and atmospheric research at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire, which offers the only meteorology degree program in the state.

If he is confirmed by the Senate, an urgent issue Gregg will have to address at NOAA is upgrading infrastructure for responding to maritime accidents in the Arctic.

On Thursday, NOAA issued a joint report with the University of New Hampshire warning that more needs to be done to enhance emergency response capacity as Arctic sea ice declines due to climate warming and ship traffic in the region increases.

Scientists study ice patterns high in theArctic (Photo courtesy NOAA)

“The reduction of polar sea ice and the increasing worldwide demand for energy will likely result in a dramatic increase in the number of vessels that travel Arctic waters,” said Nancy Kinner, a UNH professor of civil and environmental engineering who serves as co-director of the Coastal Response Research Center, based at the university.

“As vessel traffic increases, disaster scenarios are going to become more of a reality,” she said.

The report details findings from a panel of experts and decision-makers from Arctic nation governments, industry and indigenous communities convened by the CRRC.

The panel examined five potential emergency response scenarios – a grounded cruise ship whose 2,000 passengers and crew must abandon the vessel; an ice-trapped and damaged ore carrier; an explosion on a fixed drilling rig north of Alaska; a collision between a tanker and fishing vessel that results in a large oil spill; and the grounding of a tug towing a supplies barge in an environmentally sensitive area near the Bering Strait.

“Now is the time to prepare for maritime accidents and potential spills in the Arctic,” said Amy Merten, NOAA co-director of the center. “This report clearly indicates that international cooperation and adequate resources are key to saving lives and protecting this special region.”

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WASHINGTON, DC, December 19, 2008 (ENS) – More than four years after two independent expert panels urged the Bush administration and Congress to immediately overhaul the nation’s oceans policy, few of their recommendations have been implemented and the state of the oceans is deteriorating rapidly.

Overfishing, pollution and climate change are wreaking havoc with ocean ecosystems and driving species into extinction, leaving scientists and advocates fearful for the future absent dramatic action to change course and desperate for leadership from President-elect Barack Obama.

“We need a statement from the new administration that the United States is ready to bail out the oceans to protect marine biodiversity and related economic opportunity worldwide,” said Michael Hirshfield, chief scientist and senior vice president of the North American arm of Oceana.

Storm waves in the North Pacific Ocean
(Photo courtesy NOAA)

Hirshfield is hoping for “concrete action” early in the Obama administration, such as an executive order calling for a new oceans policy stating the nation’s intent to manage the oceans for long-term sustainability, rather than short-term profits.

Such a statement must be followed up by aggressive and decisive actions by Congress to help reach this goal, he said.

“We need a change in attitude from our government – we need a new national policy that puts the long-term health of our oceans first,” said Hirshfield. “Achieving this goal soon will provide long-term economic benefits.”

The early signs from the president-elect provide cause for optimism, Hirshfield said, particularly the decision to put marine biologist Jane Lubchenco in charge of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

A vocal critic of overfishing, avowed conservationist and supporter of marine protected areas, Lubchenco also served on both the Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy – the two panels that crafted hundreds of recommendations for a fundamental overhaul of U.S. oceans policy.

The choice of the Oregon State University professor is a “clear signal from the administration that they are going to put the long-term health of the oceans first,” Hirshfield told ENS. “They couldn’t have picked anyone better.”

While Lubchenco’s nomination has provided new hope for ocean advocates, that optimism is sobered by new and emerging evidence that the decline of the oceans is accelerating.

Overfishing is depleting marine fish species
(Photo courtesy NOAA)

The latest statistics on fishing worldwide present a dour outlook, as industrial outfits have become devastatingly successful at plundering ocean species. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that more than 75 percent of the 600 fish species it monitors are fully exploited or depleted.

A new peer-reviewed study published this month suggests the fish in large marine ecosystems are being caught at rates that are at least double the level considered sustainable.

Fishing is decimating large iconic species such as tuna, swordfish, marlin and cod – some researchers estimate only 10 percent of all such large fish remain.

“We are fishing down the food chain,” said Jeremy Jackson, director of the Scripps Institution Oceanography’s Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation.

Furthermore, harmful fishing practices are ravaging sensitive species such as sea turtles, sharks and dolphins, while also destroying fragile underwater ecosystems.

The area of the sea floor ravaged by trawling “rivals all the forests ever cut down by humans in history,” Jackson said at a National Press Club press conference December 16.

Overfishing is clearly a global issue, Jackson said, but the United States needs to show leadership and get its house in order.

Fish harvested from the Atlantic Ocean
(Photo courtesy NOAA)/img]

U.S. fisheries tend to be managed “by wishful thinking,” Jackson said.

There is a major gap in data about the state of U.S. fisheries, but what is known is worrisome – nearly half are below healthy levels and about a quarter are still being overfished.

“The economic pressures to keep on fishing have overwhelmed common sense,” said Dr. Jackson, who added that the lack of progress stems only from “greed and our inability to alter our behavior.”

As the oceans are being depleted of key species, they are also suffering from continued and increasing pollution from human activities on land. A key concern is over-enrichment with nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous, which degrade ecosystems and cause massive dead zones across broad areas of coastal waters.

Researchers have identified more than 400 dead zones throughout the world, stretches of water that lack enough oxygen to support marine life.

And the problem is actually “much more pervasive than inventories would suggest,” said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

Boesch said new evidence suggests the metric for defining dead zones underestimates the harm to marine life and cautions that healing degraded marine ecosystems may be more difficult than originally thought.

Researchers are finding that “the longer ecosystems are degraded, the harder they are to recover,” he told reporters.

This doesn’t bode well for stalled recovery efforts in the Chesapeake Bay or the Gulf of Mexico, which annually suffers from a dead zone in excess of 7,500 square miles.

Boesch lamented efforts to quell the huge dead zone, saying “very little has been done except more studies to see if the problem is real.”

Tackling the pollution that plagues U.S. estuaries, coastal areas and lakes, will require tighter controls on fertilizer use and advance pollution controls on sewage treatment plants, Boesch explained.

“While various plans and goals are in place … concerted actions to implement them have fallen well short,” he said, adding that “time is running out.”

Potentially overshadowing concerns about pollution and overfishing, however, is the sense of “increasing alarm” about climate change, said Jeff Short, Oceana’s Pacific Science Director.[img=/UPLOADS/blog/ecommunity_news/blogpost_data/08_12_15/20081219_10_hawaiiwave.jpg]Waves crash on a Hawaiian beach
(Photo courtesy NOAA)

The oceans absorb some one-third of the carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere, a process that is fundamentally changing the chemical balance needed for many marine species to survive.

High carbon dioxide levels in the ocean are increasing the acidity of seawater, which in turn makes it harder for coral and other organisms to form their skeletons and shells.

The atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide are currently at about 385 parts per million, rising at some 2 to 2.5 ppm annually, and the increases are already being blamed for the loss of some coral reefs.

Recent research estimates the world has lost nearly 20 percent of its original coral reefs since 1950.

And when those levels hit 450 ppm – in about 25 years if current trends continue – “the tropical reefs will fall apart” and shellfish populations worldwide could dramatically decline.

Of further worry are the feedback effects created by the close connection between the state of the oceans and the climate.

The increasing acidification of the oceans will reduce their ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Scientists predict acidification will occur most rapidly in the oceans near the poles, where signs of warming are already evident.

An area of sea ice about a quarter the size of the United States has been lost since the 1950s and researchers with the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center this month concluded that warming in the Arctic is accelerating.

The loss of sea ice in the Arctic is exposing more of the ocean to solar radiation, causing it to warm and prevent new ice from forming, potentially further accelerating climate change.

“We are breaking the planet’s thermostat,” Short said.

The daunting nature of climate change and the vastness of the oceans make both issues difficult for politicians and the public to grasp, Hirshfield acknowledged.

“Oceans are out of sight, out of mind,” he told ENS. “We are dealing with people’s ability to grasp immensity. People stand at the beach and look out at the vastness of the ocean and it is just really difficult to grasp the scale and impacts of human activities.”

The same problem is “at the core of climate denial,” Hirshfield said.

And similar to climate change, he added, U.S. leadership is vital if the world is to begin to address the crisis plaguing the world’s oceans.

“We also need to take some action here – to think globally and act locally,” he said. “We are going to have extinctions, we are going to lose pieces of the ocean ecosystem. But you look on land and just because we have degraded lands, cut down and cleared forests doesn’t mean we don’t fight even harder to protect what is left. It is all about leaving as much intact for future generations as we can.”

By J.R. Pegg

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CHICAGO, Illinois, December 4, 2008 (ENS) – President-elect Barack Obama has tapped New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson to be his Secretary of Commerce, a position with many natural resources responsibilities.

Richardson will be in charge of rebuilding the U.S. economy on a basis of clean energy and green jobs – two of the essential pillars of Obama’s plan to revitalize America. And as commerce secretary, he will head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, which governs everything from the National Weather Service to fisheries management.

Governor Richardson is serving his second term as governor of New Mexico and previously represented northern New Mexico in Congress for 15 years. In 1997, President Bill Clinton selected Richardson as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. From 1998 to 2001, Richardson served as Clinton’s Secretary of Energy. He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination during the current election cycle but was defeated by Obama.

President-elect Barak Obama, left, announces
Governor Bill Richardson as his choice for
Commerce Secretary. (Photo courtesy
Office of the President-elect)

Announcing Richardson’s nomination in Chicago Wednesday, Obama said, “As a former Secretary of Energy, Bill understands the steps we must take to build a new, clean-energy industry and create the green jobs of the 21st century. Jobs that pay well and won’t be shipped overseas – jobs that will help us end our dependence on foreign oil.”

“And as a former Ambassador to the United Nations, Bill brings both international stature and a deep understanding of today’s global economy,” Obama said. “He understands that the success of today’s business in Detroit or Columbus often depends on whether it can sell products in places like Santiago or Shanghai.”

“And he knows that America’s reputation in the world is critical not just to our security, but to our prosperity – that when the citizens of the world respect America’s leadership, they are more likely to buy America’s products,” said the president-elect.

Richardson said, “There is a vital role for the Department of Commerce in our economic recovery. The unique strengths of the department and its talented public servants make it the natural agency to serve as the programmatic nerve center in America’s struggle to rejuvenate our economy. America will once again be at the forefront of innovation, especially in the new frontier of energy independence and clean energy jobs, and we will restore our position of respect in the world.”

The present Secretary of Commerce, Carlos Gutierrez, issued a supportive statement, saying, “The Department of Commerce is a vast agency with a diverse portfolio that ranges from promoting commerce and economic growth, to exercising stewardship over our oceans and waterways.”

“Richardson has the credibility and expertise to negotiate with our foreign partners and ensure that American businesses and workers have open markets and a fair playing field on which to compete,” said Gutierrez.

Ocean conservationists praised Obama’s choice of Richardson.

Vikki Spruill, president and chief executive of the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy said, “Bill Richardson is an outstanding choice to lead the Department of Commerce, the department most closely associated with America’s ocean policy.”

“Given the many serious problems currently facing our oceans, we hope and expect Governor Richardson to be a champion for the health of our oceans,” she said.

“Too often NOAA has been as afterthought at the Commerce Department. We believe Governor Richardson can change that. Clearly, he is aware the ocean supplies the air we breathe and the food we eat,” said Spruill. “We trust he will put defending this all-important resource at the front of his agenda, where it belongs.”

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WASHINGTON, DC, November 17, 2008 (ENS) – The emissions of ozone-depleting substances should have “a negligible effect on ozone in all regions beyond 2070,” as long as governments continue to comply with the Montreal Protocol, according to a new assessment of the global ozone layer led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA.

The report shows that the United States has cut the production of ozone-damaging substances by 98 percent since the late 1980s.

This progress is being made despite that fact that the ozone hole over Antarctica, which fluctuates in response to temperature and sunlight, grew to the size of North America in a one-day maximum in September that was the fifth largest on record, since NOAA satellite records began in 1979.

The ozone hole over Antarctica, September 12,
2008 (Image courtesy NOAA)

The new NOAA assessment offers the first detailed look at the role of the United States in emitting and reducing the emissions of chemicals containing chlorine and bromine that deplete the ozone layer. These include chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, that were used as coolants in refrigerators and air conditioning systems before the damage they do to the ozone layer was discovered in the 1970s.

Emissions of ozone-depleting substances arise from their use not only as coolants, but also as fire-extinguishing chemicals, electronics cleaning agents, and in foam blowing and other applications.

The ozone layer, which surrounds the globe about nine to 28 miles above the surface, protects living things from the Sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays, but springtime holes in the ozone layer over the South Pole and over the Arctic have appeared annually due to the release of these substances into the atmosphere.

“With the efforts of the U.S. and the over 190 nations in the Montreal Protocol, we have avoided a future world of higher ozone depletion and exposure of humans and other living things to unhealthy levels of ultraviolet radiation,” said A.R. Ravishankara, NOAA atmospheric chemist and lead author on the new report.

The 1987 Montreal Protocol and its subsequent amendments established limits and eventual phase-outs for production and consumption of several ozone-depleting substances.

One in a series of reports coordinated by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, this ozone report was written by a team of 16 scientists from six different federal agencies. They developed information for and about the United States and drew material from two recent international scientific assessment reports to which the U.S. contributed, to distill a U.S.-specific perspective on this global issue.

The contributions of the United States to the emission of ozone-depleting substances to date have accounted for between 15 and 39 percent of the overall atmospheric abundance of ozone-depleting substances measured between 1994 and 2004, the report finds.

The United States has also contributed significantly to emission reductions of ozone-depleting substances, thereby helping efforts to achieve the expected recovery of the ozone layer and prevent large surface changes in ultra-violet radiation.

The U.S. percentage of the global total production has fallen to 10 percent in recent years.

As the report notes, without the Montreal Protocol, the levels of ozone-depleting substances in the “world we avoided” would likely have been 50 percent larger in 2010 than currently predicted.

Since the 1980s, global ozone sustained a depletion of about five percent in the midlatitudes of both the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere, where most of the Earth’s population resides; it is now showing signs of turning the corner towards increasing ozone, the report states.

“The large seasonal depletions in the polar regions are likely to continue over the next decade but are expected to subside over the next few decades,” the report predicts.

There is a relationship between ozone concentrations in the atmosphere at climate change. Ozone-depleting substances and many of the chemicals being used to replace them are potent greenhouse gases that influence the Earth’s climate by trapping heat radiation that would otherwise escape to space.

Ozone is itself a greenhouse gas. The stratospheric ozone layer heats the stratosphere and, indirectly, the lower atmosphere so stratospheric ozone is a key component that affects climate. Depletion of the ozone layer has a cooling effect on climate, though large uncertainties exist regarding this effect, which is a combination of multiple contributing factors.

To view the full Climate Change Science Program report, “Trends in Emissions of Ozone-Depleting Substances, Ozone Layer Recovery, and Implications for Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure,” and a summary brochure, click here [www.climatescience.gov].

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska, October 18, 2008 (ENS) – The Cook Inlet beluga whale population near Anchorage is in danger of extinction, and has been listed as an endangered species, federal fisheries regulators announced Friday.

“In spite of protections already in place, Cook Inlet beluga whales are not recovering,” said James Balsiger, acting assistant administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service. Cook Inlet stretches 180 miles from the Gulf of Alaska to Anchorage.

Listing the Cook Inlet beluga whales means any federal agency that funds, authorizes, or carries out new projects or activities that may affect the whales in the area must first consult with NOAA’s Fisheries Service to determine the potential effects on the whales. A federal action must not jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species.

The listing is going ahead over the objections of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who is also running for the office of vice president on the Republican ticket with presidential nominee Senator John McCain.

“The State of Alaska has had serious concerns about the low population of belugas in Cook Inlet for many years,” Governor Palin said Friday. “However, we believe that this endangered listing is premature.”

In August 2007, Governor Palin wrote to the Fisheries Service asking that the Cook Inlet belugas not be listed as endangered for economic reasons.

“I am especially concerned that an unnecessary federal listing and designation of critical habitat would do serious long-term damage to the vibrant economy of the Cook Inlet area,” Palin wrote. “Hundreds of thousands of people who live in this area know that we are taking excellent care of the environment and habitat there.”

One of the few remaining Cook Inlet
beluga whales (Photo courtesy NOAA)

“For example,” she wrote, “annual salmon runs in recent years are higher than they were when the beluga population was larger, in the 1970s. This wouldn’t be possible without effective conservation efforts.”

Conservation groups initially filed a petition to list the population as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in March 1999.

Opposition from the State of Alaska, local cities and boroughs, and industry groups led the Fisheries Service to reject the petition. Instead, in 2000, the agency listed the Cook Inlet beluga population as “depleted” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

At that time, the Fisheries Service said that the imposition of restrictions on Alaska Native hunting imposed under that Act would lead to the population’s recovery. Between 1999 and 2006, Alaska Native hunters took a total of five Cook Inlet beluga whales for subsistence. No beluga whales were harvested in 2007 or 2008., yet recovery of the population has not occurred.

Recent surveys show the Cook Inlet beluga whale’s population now hovers around 375 animals, down from an estimated population of 1,300 whales in the early 1990s, according to scientific surveys.

In response to a petition submitted by the Trustees for Alaska and other conservation groups on April 20, 2006, the Fisheries Service proposed on April 20, 2007, that Cook Inlet beluga whales be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

The act requires a final determination by October 20, 2008. Friday’s announcement is the result of NOAA’s scientific review of the proposal to list Cook Inlet belugas.

“We would have preferred that NOAA delay this endangered listing decision for a few years to get more population counts, and determine whether the cutback in hunting is working to help the beluga population recover,” said Denby Lloyd, commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

“Our analysis of NOAA’s data indicates that the population has been growing steadily in the last few years, just as studies had predicted.”

“The science was clear – and it has been for a very long time,” said marine mammal scientist Craig Matkin of the North Gulf Oceanic Society, one of the petitioning groups. “The population is critically endangered. The protections of the Endangered Species Act provide the safety net so that the population can escape extinction and recover.”

“Hopefully the listing decision is not too late for the Cook Inlet beluga whale population’s recovery,” said John Schoen, senior scientist of Audubon-Alaska. “It is unfortunate that the population was not listed in 2000, when the scientific evidence was overwhelming that it should be listed under the ESA.”

Cook Inlet is the most populated and fastest growing watershed in Alaska, and from oil and gas dumping, sewage discharges, contaminated runoff and regular shipping and pipeline spills, rising pollution levels threaten the Beluga whale and its habitat. Furthermore, several massive infrastructure projects – including the proposed Knik Arm Bridge, the Port of Anchorage Expansion, the Chuitna coal strip mine, and the Port MacKenzie expansion – will directly impact some of the whale’s most important habitat.

Listing the Cook Inlet beluga whale will ensure that developers and scientists work together to avoid further population declines.

“This ends the debate about whether the beluga should be protected under the Endangered Species Act, and starts the critically important process of actually working to recover the species and protect its habitat,” said Brendan Cummings, oceans program director for the Center for Biological Diversity. “Hopefully the State of Alaska will now work towards protecting the beluga rather than, as with the polar bear, denying the science and suing to overturn the listing.”

“Of course, whenever you have a population of marine mammals that is this low, it is a cause for serious concern,” said Commissioner Lloyd. “We just aren’t sure that an endangered listing, and all the legal requirements it brings with it, is necessary to assure the health of this population at this time.”

NOAA’s Balsiger says the recovery of the Cook Inlet whales is potentially hindered by strandings; continued development within and along upper Cook Inlet and the cumulative effects on important beluga habitat; oil and gas exploration, development, and production; industrial activities that discharge or accidentally spill pollutants; disease; and predation by killer whales.

This year new drilling is planned by Alaska operators for natural gas in the Cook Inlet. ConocoPhillips, Chevron and Marathon Oil, and Armstrong Oil and Gas are all planning new development wells.

The agency will identify habitat essential to the conservation of Cook Inlet belugas in a separate rulemaking within a year.

Cook Inlet belugas are one of five populations of belugas recognized within U.S. waters. The other beluga populations inhabit Bristol Bay, the eastern Bering Sea, the eastern Chukchi Sea, and the Beaufort Sea.

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WASHINGTON, DC, August 26, 2008 (ENS) – Large ships traveling along the east coast of the United States would have to slow to 10 knots in designated areas used by endangered North Atlantic right whales under a federal government proposal issued Tuesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the final environmental impact statement for the Ship Strike Reduction Rule issued by the NOAA Fisheries Service aims to limit the number of the endangered whales injured or killed by collisions with large ships.

The final EIS contains six alternatives, including NOAA’s preferred alternative that would require a vessel speed restriction of 10 knots or less in areas along the U.S. east coast where the whales migrate, feed and bear their young.

The agency’s preferred alternative also includes a five year sunset provision to allow for further consideration of ongoing scientific research.

“NOAA is looking forward to taking a significant step in our efforts to protect right whales,” said NOAA Administrator Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr. “Our scientific analysis shows that a 10-knot speed limit in critical areas will significantly reduce the threat to these endangered marine mammals.”

Until September 29, the agency is accepting public comment on the EIS, which is one of the final steps in the process of implementing a final rule.

Two of the approximately 300 North Atlantic
right whales that survived the centuries
of commercial whaling. (Photo courtesy
NOAA)

Whale conservationists lost no time in criticizing NOAA’s preferred alternative.

Vicki Cornish, vice president for marine wildlife conservation with the Ocean Conservancy, said in a statement Tuesday, “The measures outlined in the preferred alternative represent a weakening of the regulations proposed by the Bush administration.

“Of primary concern is the government’s plan to have final regulations go away after five years unless additional rulemaking is completed. This ’sunset provision’ would come at a time when shipping traffic is expected to dramatically increase on the East Coast,” Cornish said.

Conservationists and government scientists agree on one thing – there are only about 300 North Atlantic right whales remaining and they are among the most endangered whales in the world. The are not now the target of whale hunters due to a global moratorium on commercial whaling imposed by the International Whaling Commission in 1986.

Slow moving right whales are highly vulnerable to ship collisions, since their migration route crosses major east coast shipping lanes.

NOAA’s proposed speed limit of 10-knots, approximately 11.5 miles per hour, would apply to right whale feeding grounds along the coast in the northeastern United States and to calving grounds near the southeastern United States, where the whales spend most of their time.

In the mid-Atlantic area where right whales migrate, the 10-knot speed restrictions would extend out to 20 nautical miles around the major ports. This provision reduces the distance from the 30 miles from shore NOAA originally proposed after the World Shipping Council objected.

NOAA’s Fisheries Service researchers report that 83 percent of right whale sightings in the mid-Atlantic were within 20 nautical miles of shore, NOAA said Tuesday.

The preferred alternative also would establish temporary voluntary speed limits in other areas when an aggregation of three or more right whales is confirmed.

The World Shipping Council has lobbied the Bush administration to refrain from imposing a speed limit, saying, “Large commercial ships are not a primary cause of unnatural mortality of Atlantic right whales.”

NOAA first proposed the 10 knot speed limit for shipping along the eastern seaboard on June 26, 2006. But since that public comment period ended in October 2006, the plan has been stalled by the White House Office of Management and Budget long past the normal 90 day review period.

“The industry is not opposing all regulation,” the WSC says in a policy statement on its website, “only those parts of the proposed regulation where the scientific justification is lacking.”

“The industry’s objection is that there is no scientific basis in the record of this rulemaking for imposing a 10-knot speed restriction within 30 nautical miles (nm) of East Coast ports in the entire mid-Atlantic range from New York to Savannah, Georgia. This is the coastal range where the science is the weakest and the economic impact is the greatest,” the WSC says.

“The bottom line is that this critically endangered species needs our help,” said NOAA Administrator Lautenbacher. “The preferred alternative is a balanced approach grounded in science that would significantly enhance our ability to protect right whales, but it would also take into account concerns about the safety of ship crews and the impact on an important segment of our economy.”

But Cornish is not satisfied with the balance of NOAA’s preferred alternative, in part because it is not the final rule.

“The environmental impact statement provides a preview of the measures that will be in the final regulations for the shipping industry to follow, but it does not tell us when the final regulations will actually be published,” she said. “Until the final rule is published, there continues to be no protections in place for right whales.”

“While the Bush administration has stalled the rule for well over a year, at least two endangered North Atlantic right whales have been struck by ships,” said Cornish, “yet still today, we continue to wait for final regulations to protect an endangered species from its greatest threat.”

To read and comment on the final environmental impact statement for the Ship Strike Reduction Rule, click here [www.nmfs.noaa.gov].

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CAMP SPRINGS, Maryland, August 7, 2008 (ENS) – Government weather forecasters said today that they expect two more named storms and hurricanes to form in the Atlantic Basin this year than they predicted in May, and warned of an increased likelihood that 2008 will be an above-normal hurricane season.

In its August update to the Atlantic hurricane season outlook, released today, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center projects an 85 percent probability of an above-normal season – up from 65 percent in May.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, issues its August outlook at the start of the peak months of the Atlantic hurricane season – August through October – and includes activity over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico.

Streets flood and power is out in
Welasco, Texas as Hurricane Dolly
blows through. July 23, 2008.
(Photo by Barry Bahler
courtesy FEMA)

Forecasters say they adjusted their prediction due to atmospheric and oceanic conditions across the Atlantic Basin that favor storm development combined with the strong early season activity.

“Leading indicators for an above-normal season during 2008 include the continuing multi-decadal signal – atmospheric and oceanic conditions that have spawned increased hurricane activity since 1995 – and the lingering effects of La Niña,” said Gerry Bell, PhD, lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

The updated outlook includes a 67 percent chance of 14 to 18 named storms.

Seven to 10 of those storms are expected to become hurricanes, including three to six major hurricanes of Category 3 strength or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.

These ranges encompass the entire hurricane season, which ends November 30, and include the five storms that have formed to date.

In May, the outlook called for 12 to 16 named storms, including six to nine hurricanes and two to five major hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season has 11 named storms, including six hurricanes and two major hurricanes.

Bell explained that conditions favoring a forecast of more hurricanes include “reduced wind shear, weaker trade winds, an active West African monsoon system, the winds coming off of Africa and warmer-than-average water in the Atlantic Ocean.”

Another indicator favoring an above-normal hurricane season is a very active July, the third most active since 1886. Even so, said Bell, there is still a 10 percent chance of a near normal season and a five percent chance of a below normal season.

The NOAA forecast is in line with a new prediction of increased hurricane activity from meteorologists at Colorado State University.

Philip Klotzbach and William Gray said Tuesday, “We foresee a very active Atlantic basin tropical cyclone season in 2008. We have raised our forecast from our early June prediction. We anticipate an above-average probability of United States major hurricane landfall.”

“We expect full-season Atlantic basin Net Tropical Cyclone (NTC) activity in 2008 to be approximately 190 percent of the long-term average,” said Klotzbach and Gray.

“We have raised our seasonal forecast from what was predicted in early April and early June. This is due to a combination of a very active early tropical cyclone season in the deep tropics and more favorable hurricane-enhancing sea surface temperature and sea level pressure patterns in the tropical Atlantic,” they said.

By the numbers, the Colorado forecasters differ somewhat from the NOAA predictions, but the general trend is the same.

“We estimate that the full 2008 Atlantic basin hurricane season will have about 9 hurricanes (average is 5.9), 17 named storms (average is 9.6), 90 named storm days (average is 49.1), 45 hurricane days (average is 24.5), 5 intense (Category 3-4-5) hurricanes (average is 2.3) and 11 intense hurricane days (average is 5.0).”

The probability of U.S. major hurricane landfall for the remainder of the hurricane season is estimated to be about 130 percent of the long-period average,” said Klotzbach and Gray.

Hurricane Dolly damaged homes
and businesses on South Padre
Island, Texas. (Photo by Jacinta
Quesada courtesy FEMA)

NOAA’s hurricane outlook is a general guide to the expected level of hurricane activity for the entire season. NOAA does not make seasonal landfall predictions since hurricane landfalls are largely determined by the weather patterns in place as a hurricane approaches.

Five named storms have formed so far this season.

Tropical Storm Arthur affected the Yucatan Peninsula in late May and early June.

Bertha was a major hurricane and the longest-lived July storm on record, lasting from July 3 through 20.

Tropical Storm Cristobal skirted the North Carolina coastline.

Dolly made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane at South Padre Island, Texas on July 25 with 120 mile per hour winds and heavy rain.

And on August 5, Tropical Storm Edouard struck the upper Texas coast.

“It is critical that everyone know the risk for your area, and have a plan to protect yourself, your family and your property, or to evacuate if requested by local emergency managers. Be prepared throughout the remainder of the hurricane season,” Bell said. “Even people who live inland should be prepared for severe weather and flooding from a tropical storm or a hurricane.”

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WASHINGTON, DC, August 6, 2008 (ENS) – A report on ways to minimize the impacts of harmful algal blooms in freshwaters across the United States presented by federal government agencies on Monday offers few solutions and relies heavily on future research to develop responses to the noxious and often toxic plants.

These algae can form unsightly and foul-smelling mats, localized areas of low oxygen in the water, and clogged water intakes.

Impacts include foul taste and odor problems in drinking water sources and farm-raised fish, domestic and wild animal deaths, and reduced recreational opportunities due to noxious or toxic blooms. Human illness has been associated with large toxic blooms in recreational waters.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Science and Technology Council released the interagency report, which draws on the expertise of scientists in dozens of government agencies.

It emphasizes the importance of developing methods for detecting the cells and toxins of these harmful algal blooms in fresh water and understanding how the toxins are taken up and how they affect humans and animals.

“Freshwater HABs pose serious threats to human and ecological health,” said NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher. “This report assesses the state of knowledge about freshwater HABs in the U.S. and sets research priorities to improve our ability to minimize or even prevent impacts of these events.”

CyanoHAB on an Oregon lake
(Photo by Stephen Hager)

A majority of states have now experienced these freshwater blooms. Human activities, such as nutrient pollution, alteration of water flow, and introduction of invasive species, are thought to contribute to them.

Progress to date on research and response has been made mostly through research at the individual project level with larger federal research and response efforts concentrated on the Great Lakes region.

“The central importance of this report is that this is the first comprehensive look at harmful algal blooms in U.S. fresh waters,” says Paul Sandifer, a senior scientist with NOAA’s Oceans and Human Health Initiative and co-chair of the Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia and Human Health that produced the report.

“Freshwater algal blooms are equally as important and problematic as those found in marine waters,” said Sandifer, a former member of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. “They can affect drinking water for the millions of people across the country who rely on surface fresh water supplies such as the Great Lakes.”

The report, “Scientific Assessment of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms,” presents a plan to minimize health and economic impacts of freshwater HABs but a great deal of research will be required to ensure the resilience of the nation’s freshwater ecosystems.

Priorities include understanding causes in order to better predict blooms, improving environmental monitoring for early warning, improving risk assessments for humans and the environment, developing bloom prevention and control methods, and finally supporting HAB research and response infrastructure.

Scientists at the National Exposure Research Laboratory are exploring the use of titanium dioxide, an emerging “green” technology, for the treatment of microcystins in drinking water. They also are developing techniques for separation, detection, identification and quantitative measurement of six cyanobacterial toxins.

Across the Midwest, some states are already monitoring for HABs. In Indiana, the Department of Environmental Management, along with Soil and Water Conservation Districts, conducts sampling.

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State University monitor 132 lakes for cyanobacteria and associated toxins.

In Nebraska many agencies are involved. The Nebraska Natural Resource Districts, Public Power District, Game and Parks Commission, and Department of Environmental Quality, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, monitor CyanoHABs in lakes and inform the public online.

Michigan and Minnesota each provide monitoring. In Wisconsin, the Department of Natural Resources maintains general CyanoHAB information on the internet, while the Division of Public Health provides a fact sheet on cyanobacteria, their toxins, and health impacts.

The report recommends creation a national agreement on monitoring strategy, including federal guidelines to determine when beach closings and health advisories are needed.

But it’s not enough to monitor for algae. The report says that outreach to the public can lessen HAB impacts by promoting awareness of potential threats, by sharing accurate perceptions of drinking water, recreational water, and the safety of freshwater fish and crustaceans, and by fostering community participation in HAB prediction and response efforts.

The report recommends that scientists develop effective HAB control methods that have minimal impacts on the environment.

Potential control techniques to investigate further include increasing flushing rates, ultrasound, electrocoagulation, new and existing coagulants, and new algicidal or algistatic compounds.

Scientists are seeking effective treatment technologies to remove cyanotoxins from drinking water. Investigations of enhanced coagulation technology, filtration effectiveness, and disinfectant by-products are important, the report says. Microcystins, cylindrospermopsin, and anatoxin-A are the primary algal toxins of concern for regulation under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

Researchers are combining ground-based measurements and satellite image data to characterize bloom dynamics and inform development of future bloom forecasting tools.

For dealing with HABs this season, some help is available at the Harmful Algal Bloom Event Response website [www.glerl.noaa.gov] developed by NOAA’s Center of Excellence for Great Lakes and Human Health.

Never drink untreated surface water, whether or not algal blooms are present, warns the Wisconsin Division of Public Health in the report. Boiling the water will not remove toxins.

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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana, July 24, 2008 (ENS) – Crews are struggling to contain and clean more than 419,000 gallons of fuel oil from an 80 mile closed stretch of the Mississippi River that extends from New Orleans downstream to the Gulf of Mexico.

The oil spilled early Wednesday near downtown New Orleans when the 600-foot Liberian-flagged oil tanker Tintomara collided with an American Commercial Lines barge that was being pushed by a tug, the Mel Oliver.

The collision split the 61-foot barge in half and the oil spilled from the barge into the river at mile marker 98, near Harahan, just north of the Huey P. Long Bridge. The tanker was not damaged.

The U.S. Coast Guard closed the Lower Mississippi to all vessel traffic following the spill. The barge is partially submerged and is being kept in place by tugboats. No injuries have been reported.

A U.S. Coast Guard crewman observes
the sunken barge surrounded by
tugs in the Mississippi River. (Photo
courtesy U.S. Coast Guard)

The Coast Guard has confirmed that none of the tug’s crew had the licenses that are required to operate on the river.

Representatives from the tug Mel Oliver report that “there were no properly licensed individuals on the vessel during the time that the incident occurred,” the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The tug operator’s name and the name of the river pilot aboard the tanker have not been released.

Laurin Maritime of Houston owns the Tintomara, which was carrying styrene and biodiesel fuel in separate compartments.

The Coast Guard is working with Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordination Office, oil spill response organizations, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to address the spill.

Nearly nine miles of containment boom has been deployed by the Oil Spill Response Organization, which is awaiting the deployment of an additional 29,000 feet of boom.

Booms also were deployed to protect sensitive wildlife habitats and to protect drinking water intake pipes.

Contracted oil spill response organizations are using vaccum trucks and oil skimmers to pick up the spilled oil.

The #6 fuel oil that was spilled is a commercial fuel oil that is lighter than regular fuel oil and dissipates more quickly, the Coast Guard says.

“The Coast Guard continues to work very closely with state and local agencies, the maritime industry, oil spill response organizations and salvage companies in an effort to mitigate the pollution impact and to reopen the Lower Mississippi River to commercial traffic as soon as practical,” said Lt. Cmdr. Michael Mckean, chief of the Sector New Orleans Command Center.

No damage to the marshlands has been reported at this time, he said.

National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker and a six-person team of safety investigators arrived in New Orleans late Wednesday to investigate the incident.

Emergency responders from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality have notified all parishes affected by the oil spill so that they could take action to protect their water intakes. Parishes shut down their intakes and booms have been deployed around the intakes.

Louisiana Department of Health and Hospital officials are urging residents in the Algiers, St. Bernard, Dalcour and Belle Chase water systems to conserve water, as the intakes have been shut down.

These systems have water reserves, but if the reserves run out, and sampling of the finished water shows elevated contaminants, contracts with the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to deliver water to the affected areas could be activated at the request of the individual parishes.

Air monitoring, in high traffic areas, such at Riverwalk and the French Quarter, is ongoing. The DEQ has emergency responders with a portable air monitor moving around New Orleans where the river is impacted. The air monitor shows low readings of hydrocarbons below any action levels.

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