White House Blocked Rule Issued to Shield Whales

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Washington Post

White House Blocked Rule Issued to Shield Whales
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 1, 2008; Page A03

White House officials have blocked a rule aimed at protecting endangered North Atlantic right whales for more than a year by challenging the findings of government scientists, according to documents obtained by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The documents, which were mailed to the environmental group by an unidentified National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official, illuminate a struggle that has raged between the White House and NOAA for more than a year. In February 2007, NOAA issued a final rule aimed at slowing ships traversing some East Coast waters to 10 knots or less during parts of the year to protect the right whales, but the White House has blocked the rule from taking effect.

North Atlantic right whales, whose surviving population numbers fewer than 400, are one of the most endangered species on Earth, and scientists have warned that the loss of just one more pregnant female could doom the species. Some shipping companies have opposed the NOAA proposal, saying slowing their vessels will cost the industry money.

The documents, which House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) released yesterday, show that the White House Council of Economic Advisers and Vice President Cheney's office repeatedly questioned whether the rule was needed. Waxman, who sent a letter to the White House asking for an explanation, said the exchange "appears to be the latest instance of the White House ignoring scientists and other experts."



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/30/AR2008043003189.html?nav=rss_nation

[NCarolinawoman]

1. EVIL.

That is the only word I can think of that describes this.

[Triana]

2. Waaaahhh! It'll cost us moneeeee!

We should let them DESTROY THE PLANET because it will cost them a few bucks if we don't?

Got PRIORITIES?

The White House doesn't, obviously.

[InvisibleTouch]

4. A sick set of priorities, isn't it?

Some corporation would be slightly-less-filthy-rich, vs. the extinction of an entire species. I really have nothing but contempt for these people.

[earthboundmisfit]

3. WHY WHY WHY WHY??????

Evil. Fucking. Bastards. :mad:

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. Because...

They. Are. Sociopaths. All of them. A.L.L. O.F. T.H.E.M.

It all makes sense when you look at them through the filter of that viewpoint.

[saigon68]

19. Bush needs Violence to obtain arousal

He is a psychopath and danger to the world

[Lorien]

7. Everything they do is for profit$$$

These people sure as hell aren't Christians. If they were, they would understand that destroying "God's creation" is unforgivable.

:grr:

[Hulk]

6. I'm sure it comes down to "profit vs whales". What's new?

This country runs on the buck. Everything is controlled by the buck. Get used to it. It's reality, and it has been for decades.

We are so f*cking corrupt in this country, that I understand WHY the little people don't want to know about all this "political shit"...because it shines a light on just how fucked up we really are as a nation.

I am ashamed to be an American. Really...ashamed.

[DeepModem Mom]

8. K&R

[Matilda]

9. What's the betting that Bush won't move to protect the polar bears either?

What these people in the Administration and the big oil corporations fail to realise is that all
nature is interdependent. When you allow a major species to die out, others either follow, or
other creatures that have been kept under control then proliferate, and the balance of nature is
destroyed. Humans are a part of the chain.

They should be taking steps now to ensure the survival of as many species as possible, even if it's
only out of self-interest.

Man is the only species on earth that deliberately destroys its own habitat.

[FatDave]

10. Arguing with science, to protect profits over endangered whales

These assholes make me wish I believed in Hell.

[McCamy Taylor]

11. The Bush administration are mass murderers so why would they protect endangered animals?

[ToughLuck]

12. Every fucking thing this administration touches they destroy!!

They stand as war criminals and nothing more.

[FiveGoodMen]

17. And one in four 'Murkins still support them!

The corruption in our country runs pretty deep!

[saigon68]

20. Which shows you can fool 25% of them ALL THE TIME

[Judi Lynn]

13. Delay in ruling on endangered right whales criticized

Delay in ruling on endangered right whales criticized
May 1, 2008

WASHINGTON—Efforts to protect the endangered right whale from being killed by commercial ships have languished for more than a year in part because of White House objections.

more stories like thisDocuments show Vice President Dick Cheney's office and White House economists have questioned the conclusions of marine scientists.

The documents were released yesterday by California Democratic Representative Henry Waxman.

He questioned why White House officials had raised "baseless objections" to findings by government scientists who have spent years studying the dangers posed to the whale by commercial shipping.

More:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2008/05/01/delay_in_ruling_on_endangered_right_whales_criticized/

[sabra]

14. Cheney and Dudley Interfering in Right Whale Rule

Source: OMB Watch

New evidence shows that the White House is meddling with a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) rule to protect the North Atlantic right whale — one of the most critically endangered whale species in the world. The rule has been awaiting clearance — or, more accurately, gathering dust — at the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) since February 2007.

NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has been working on the rule since 1999, and in 2006 proposed limiting the speeds of large ships in the Atlantic during seasons when the right whale is most active. Ship strikes are a major cause of death for right whales. "Ship strikes are responsible for 37% of whale deaths in just the last twenty two years," according to the office of Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).

An investigation by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee shows the White House is not merely stalling, but also actively working to thwart the efforts of NMFS's staff and undermine the marine science serving as the basis for the rule. "According to documents obtained by the Committee, the rule's delay appears to be due to baseless objections raised by White House officials, including officials in the Office of the Vice President."

Today, Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) wrote to Susan Dudley, the administrator of OIRA who President Bush installed by recess appointment last year. Documents show that as many as three separate White House offices — the Council of Economic Advisors, the Office of the Vice President, and one unnamed White House source (probably OIRA) — are pressuring NOAA to change the rule, or simply drop its efforts to protect the right whale.

Read more: http://www.ombwatch.org/article/blogs/entry/4930/23

---

From Waxman's letter:

(T)he Vice President's staff "contends that we have no evidence (i.e., hard data) that lowering the speeds of 'large ships' will actually make a difference." NOAA rejected these objections, writing that both a statistical analysis of ship strike records and the peer-reviewed literature justified the final rule. In its response to the objections from the Vice President's staff, NOAA reported that there is "no basis to overturn our previous conclusion that imposing a speed limit on large vessels would be beneficial to whales."

A third document reveals that the White House requested that NOAA consider unpublished information relating to the birth rate of right whales. NOAA responded that it "used the latest, peer-reviewed, scientific data when developing" the rule.

[Demeter]

15. Cheney Read that It's Called the Right Whale Because That's Where New Englanders Got Their Oil From

in the days before Rockefeller's Standard oil. He just wants to kill the competition....

[benld74]

16. Nah, he just wants them flat out speeding, thereby using more fuel!

[Canuckistanian]

18. Words fail me

Why does Cheney even give a shit about this? I can't....

Words fail me.