Tag Archives: Sen. Richard Blumenthal

Dem senators from 4 states ask NOAA to address whale deaths

Democratic U.S. Senators from four states want federal environmental officials to address a spate of whale deaths on both coasts, urging “transparency and timeliness” in releasing information about whale deaths and their causes. The call late Tuesday by New Jersey Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker; Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse for action by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration marked the first large-scale request for action by Democratic federal lawmakers on an issue that has rapidly become politicized. Thus far, mostly Republican lawmakers have called for a pause or an outright halt to offshore wind farm preparation work, which they blame for the deaths of whales along the U.S. East Coast since December. But in their letter to a NOAA administrator, the Democratic senators conspicuously did not blame — or even mention — offshore wind as a potential cause of the deaths. >click to read< 16:52

Obama declared the first National Marine Monument in the Atlantic Ocean, and I helped!

blumenthal-go-to-hellRoll the tape! Click on the image to watch. 06:28

Undersea monument plan advocates hear fishermen’s concerns! But,,,,,,,,

blumy and peterU.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Peter Auster, retired University of Connecticut marine science professor and currently the senior research scientist at the Mystic Aquarium, made their case for declaring the New England Coral Canyons and Seamounts as a Marine National Monument during a program Tuesday evening at the aquarium. “This would be the first marine monument in the Atlantic,” said Blumenthal, who is leading the entire Connecticut congressional delegation in advocating for the designation. Blumenthal, saying he is “sensitive to the economic interests of our fishing industry,” But commercial fishing groups say the designation would cut off their access to productive areas for red crab, swordfish, tuna and offshore lobster harvests, among other species. “Those areas have been used for hundreds of years,” said Joe Gilbert, owner of Empire Fisheries,,, “We feel disenfranchised at this point,” Gilbert said. Read the story here 05:56