Two weeks ago, US President Barack Obama used executive authority to propose rules to cut carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants, in an attempt to lower carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030. Now the president has announced plans to use that same authority to create rules protecting the Pacific Ocean.
A broad section of the ocean would be off-limits to fishing, oil and gas exploration and other environmentally-damaging activities.
The size of the section Obama wishes to protect is roughly double the area currently fully protected globally. The current US Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument would expand from 90,000 square miles to a possible 800,000, according to Pew Charitable Trusts. Such an expansion would protect five times the current amount of underwater mountains, in addition to the animals who live there, and provide safe harbor for whales, sharks and turtles. The area is the marine zone 200 feet from seven US-controlled islands that lie between Hawaii and American Samoa.
Enric Sala, a National Geographic explorer who has resided in the area since 2005, said of the place, “It’s the closest thing I’ve seen to the pristine ocean.”
Obama spoke in a video message produced for the US State Department’s Our Ocean Conference.
“I’m going to use my authority to protect some of our nation’s most precious marine landscapes,” Obama said.
Obama rationalized his intentions, “Let’s make sure that years from now we can look our children in the eye and tell them that, yes, we did our part, we took action, and we led the way toward a safer, more stable world.”
“If we ignore these problems, if we drain our oceans of their resources, we won’t just be squandering one of humanity’s greatest treasures. We’ll be cutting off one of the world’s major sources of food and economic growth, including for the United States.
“We cannot afford to let that happen. That’s why the United States is leading the fight to protect our oceans.”
Obama also intended to develop a program to combat seafood fraud and the black market of fish.
President Obama has currently used executive authority to safeguard land areas 11 times. The current project to protect the US Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument is expected to draw opposition from the US tuna fleet that fishes the region.
The region accounts for three percent of US tuna fishing in the western and central Pacific.
The rules would enter into force later this year, but there will be a discussion period preceding any concrete action.
By Sid Douglas