Central Coast reactions to National Ocean Policy repeal

Another executive order signed by the president with major potential impacts on the Central Coast, and it’s not immigration.

On Tuesday, the president revoked Obama-era rules on the ocean, coastal areas and the Great Lakes.

It’s a repeal of the National Ocean Policy, signed in 2010 after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and it’s got some Central Coast organizations concerned.

“It’s self-destructive in many ways,” said Katherine O’Dea, Executive Director with Save Our Shores.

The policy was signed back in 2010 by the Obama Administration.

A federal policy allowing agencies to collaborate on protecting the ocean.

Zeroing in on issues like climate change and acidification.

“It’s going to affect us in a significant way,” O’Dea said.

Save Our Shores isn’t the only organization on the Central Coast that feels that way.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium sent us this statement:

On June 19, the Trump Administration issued an executive order creating a new National Ocean Policy to guide federal management of U.S. ocean and coastal resources. This new National Ocean Policy revokes the one established in 2010 by President Obama, shifting the focus from stewardship and sustainability of ocean resources to economic development and national security.

“The President’s executive order undermines our ability to sustain ocean and coastal resources over time for the benefit of this and future generations of Americans,” said Monterey Bay Aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard, a member of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative.

“The new policy places too much emphasis on short-term economic gain over long-term ocean health and prosperity,” Packard said. “As an institution committed to the advancement of ocean science and conservation, the Aquarium is concerned that the Trump Administration’s actions weaken the previous National Ocean Policy’s focus on strong, science-based protection and management of our nation’s incredible ocean and coastal ecosystems and resources.”

“The National Ocean Policy was established in 2010 to strengthen the federal government’s role in ensuring that our ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes are healthy and resilient,” she added. “Weakening this policy sends the wrong signal–that our nation no longer prioritizes the need to protect our ocean and coastal resources, and the well-being, prosperity and security they provide to all Americans.”

The 2010 National Ocean Policy, which Trump’s order replaces, was developed with input and support from the nation’s top business, government, military, science and environmental leaders. Among them was Packard, a member of the Pew Oceans Commission, one of two national commissions that called for the creation of a national ocean policy.

Still, some organizations support the decision.

A group called the National Ocean Policy Coalition issued this statement:

In response to today’s Excutive order regarding the Ocean Policy to Advance the Economic, Security, and Environmental Interests of the United States, National Ocean Policy Coalition Managing Director Jack Belcher has issued the following statement:

“Today’s action is a welcome development that embraces principles we all agree on, such as encouraging data and information sharing, interagency and inter-jurisdictional collaboration, and partnerships within and among the public and private sectors. At the same time, it removes a significant cloud of uncertainty that has been hovering over a wide range of commercial and recreational interests that represent a broad cross-section of the American economy, threatening domestic jobs, economic activity, and recreational opportunities through new and unauthorized bureaucracies, mandates to federal agencies, and actions that could needlessly prohibit, limit, or delay access to public lands.”

“This announcement will help ensure a future in which the American people can continue to receive the diverse array of economic, recreational, and societal benefits that the oceans provide for generations to come.”

But Save Our Shores says they plan, along with other groups to fight it.

“Between all of us, we can get enough public outcry that congress at least might pay attention,” said O’ Dea.

For more on Save Our Shores click here.

For more from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, click here.

For more on the National Ocean Policy Coalition, click here.