I wanted to take some time to clear up a few misperceptions about the bureau’s decision and what it means. As a scientist who has spent a good part of my career working in non-governmental environmental organizations and in industry, I understand and appreciate advocacy. At the same time, I believe that everyone benefits by getting the facts right. Read more here 10:35
NILS STOLPE: The New England groundfish debacle (Part IV): Is cutting back harvest really the answer?
While it’s a fact that’s hardly ever acknowledged, the assumption in fisheries management is that if the population of a stock of fish isn’t at some arbitrary level, it’s because of too much fishing. Hence the term “overfished.” Hence the mandated knee jerk reaction of the fisheries managers to not enough fish; cut back on fishing. What of other factors? They don’t count. It’s all about fishing, because fishing is all that the managers can control; it’s their Maslow’s Hammer. When it comes to the oceans it seems as if it’s about all that the industry connected mega-foundations that support the anti-fishing ENGOs with hundreds of millions of dollars a year in “donations” are interested in controlling. Read the article here
William O. Brown, here’s one very quick and easy way to allay all of our unreasonable fears regarding seismic testing: don your SCUBA gear or even use one of Dr. Sylvia Earle and her husband’s Deepwater Flight machines (cute little $million dollar subs) and have a dive in the area where they are harmlessly seismic blasting. Then when (or if) you surface, please give us a first-hand scientific report on the effects of the harmless seismic blasting you’ve experienced. OK? Deal?
Did you work for the Oceana and National Geographic non-governmental organizations because they seem to be at some variance with your statements assessing the effects of the blasting on marine life:
http://oceana.org/en/our-work/climate-energy/seismic-airgun-blasting/overview
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2014/02/140228-atlantic-seismic-whales-mammals/
But Hey, William O. Brown, don’t let that stop your personal experimental dive during blasting. I’m sure you can “clear up” these “few misconceptions” held by National Geographic and Oceana (and anybody who knows and cares anything about the ocean).
I hope that the U.S. Office of Inspector General identified “culture of ethical failure”, MMS, that then changed its name to BOERME, then changed its name to BOEM with enviro chief William Y. Brown, takes note that:
‘Opposition mounts to seismic testing for Atlantic oil and gas reserves’
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The governors of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia are
among those calling to allow seismic testing to proceed off their
coasts. They appear to have won the support of the Department of
Interior, which in February published an environmental analysis that endorses seismic exploration for an area stretching from Delaware to Florida.
But a growing number of coastal cities and town have passed resolutions opposing seismic testing. They are Cape Canaveral, Fla.; Cocoa Beach, Fla.; Carolina Beach, N.C.; Nags Head, N.C.; Bradley Beach, N.J.; and Red Bank, N.J. In addition, the city of St. Augustine Beach, Fla. voted unanimously to oppose seismic testing and wrote a letter to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management expressing its opposition, while Caswell Beach, N.C. approved a resolution expressing concern about seismic testing.
Meanwhile, 110 state and local elected officials signed onto a letter
sent this week to President Obama and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell opposing seismic testing. The signatories include mayors, city council members, county commissioners and state lawmakers from Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia. Oceana, a conservation advocacy group that’s involved in the fight against seismic testing, expects more local officials to join the opposition in the coming weeks.
“We urge your administration to stop this process and focus on
ensuring the vitality of vulnerable coastal economies along the Atlantic Coast,” the letter stated. “We cannot continue to put our ocean environment, beaches, marine resources, and coastal economies at risk.”
http://www.southernstudies.org/2014/04/opposition-mounts-to-seismic-testing-for-atlantic-.html
It’s too bad Dolphins can’t speak otherwise we’d get an Ear full from the Dolphins that survived the NAVY HIGH POWERED SONAR TESTS.
Mr. Brown has a very interesting and impressive resume….degrees from some very notable and prestigious institutions and working for well known private and public sector (in particular Brookings). No doubt a man who has accomplished much in academia and seems to be well published.
The issue here is that we have the most lawless presidential administration in our countries history and with that, it breeds such mistrust when those within the administration make public comments.
I took note of a letter he wrote to the NY SLIME back in November 2011 – Looking at Obama’s Record on the Environment, as noted the Keystone XL:
“It might be emotionally satisfying for environmental groups to take their marbles from the electoral table. But if their cause seeks outcomes rather than appearances, the right course for them is to fully support the best candidate, whether Democrat or Republican, and to take the current administration to task directly for actions they believe are wrongheaded.”
In fact, it comes down to this current administration under Barry Soetoro having such an disjointed energy policy because of the corruption at the very top starting with the Energy Department in 2009 using taxpayer money to essentially take care of big dollar democratic bundlers and the notable crash and burn failures shortly thereafter on supporting “Solyndra-like” pie in the sky green energy schemes.
Then the influence of the “Wizard of Omaha” a Mr. Buffet who just happened to invest in railroads and freight cars for carrying….crude oil. Great….then he is quoted in a story from US NEWS in 2014:
“Buffet seems to be perfectly fine with receiving tax breaks for making investments in Big Wind. “I will do anything that is basically covered by the law to reduce Berkshire’s tax rate,” Buffet told an audience in Omaha, Nebraska recently. “For example, on wind energy, we get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That’s the only reason to build them. They don’t make sense without the tax credit.”
Really…….then again its all pillow talk on what you do and say to support the worlds most noted golfer prior to the presidential election, or each and every year on what you tell your stockholders and of course, the public who thought he was a standup regular Joe…..but as noted in this particular story:
“But while the wind production tax credit may be great for Buffet’s bottom line, it’s harmful for American taxpayers and energy consumers.” (how many times have we mentioned this here…anyone out there listening?)
Further in the story:
“If private companies like Berkshire Hathaway are not willing to jump in without government incentives, it is a sign that the energy technology is a bad investment. It simply does not make sense for the government to subsidize energy technologies that are economically unviable, while attempting to restrict other options that provide reliable and affordable energy for everyday Americans.”
So where does this bring us as it concerns this article?
The search for new sources of energy products which we Americans should all support. It is not only critical for the consumers in this country who rely on petroleum products to heat and cool our our homes, but as much for the transportation of food products, delivery of services and of course for the little people like us to get around in our daily lives.
But, there is a more important issue here…. energy independence is so critical in a very dangerous world as our nations national security is being threatened without it.
With an unsettled Middle East because we have something akin to the Bad News Bears on foreign policy, yes our own JV squad made up of a guy whose resume just states, ‘Community Activist’ another guy who is always on the wrong side on policy decisions, Clueless Joe Biden, the guy who likes to hear himself talk, John Kerry, Sergeant Hagel (how about that for our Secretary of Defense), ValJar and we cannot forget CIA Direction John Brennan – read the latest on this guy: Senate Now Mad at CIA Director? How About When He Was a Leaker on National Security? http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/08/01/Senate-Now-Mad-at-CIA-Director-How-About-When-He-Was-A-Leaker-on-National-Security ).
With this bunch running the United States, we continue to make mistake after mistake in keeping people somewhat safe around this world (the latest major policy disasters in dealing with Libya, Ukraine, Israel and our border along ‘Mess-ico.’)
We need to continue on finding more fossil fuel energy products, wherever that may be and there will be risks in locating and eventually recovering these products in such remote places like the continental shelf off the east coast.
People in this country are going to have to put the pressure on the politicians to force this administration to come up with a coherent energy policy pretty quickly where fracking, oil recovery within and along the US, and the Keystone XL pipeline can move forward., and with stopping the EPA from killing the coal industry in this country.
William Brown just happens to be a mouthpiece passing along this current administrations just goodness-awful energy policies.
We are reaching the point where the national security interests of this country depend on energy independence and finding as many new productive areas to safely recover fossil fuel products is critical at this time.
As noted in an article in Foreign Policy (an outstanding website for news) from almost two years ago, “Energy Insecurity” Iran and their pursuit of a nuclear bomb, this country is going to have to make those difficult choices due to the increasing deadly instability around the world. (See:
http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/10/12/energy_insecurity_how_oil _dependence_undermines_america_s
_effort_to_stop_the_irania )
What do we do then when Iran not only has a nuclear weapon and delivery system to dump it somewhere?
The populace in this country has to elect politicians who say “the very standard of living in this country is threatened by the policies from this administration….a COMPETENT change has to be made”
Few want windmills and LNG terminals off their shoreline, or fracking and a pipeline to deliver crude oil from Canada running across our country…or for that matter seismic testing off our coast…but when the lights go out, and the cars and trucks stop running, what next?
How do you think the people in this country will react?
How secure would you feel at that point in your community….around our country?
There are no easy answers here, other then moving in the direction of American energy independence.