Offshore Drilling

 

No Offshore Drilling Expansion In Budget Request. According to E&E News, “Praise for the record successes in the U.S. oil and gas industry topped the president’s fiscal 2021 budget proposal this afternoon, but key priorities from the administration’s blueprint last year — like offshore drilling expansion — were missing. The president’s budget plan reiterated the administration’s commitment to hold an oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The proposal would try again to create a fund to address an $18 billion backlog for Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools and facilities fed by siphoning off 50% of oil and gas lease revenue from public lands. Nearly 70% of the administration’s $199 million request for the Interior Department’s energy and minerals management programs would go to the Bureau of Land Management oil and gas programs, Interior noted in a press release. Energy dominance also took pride of place in the president’s introduction to his budget proposal, where he credited the deregulation and streamlining efforts of his administration for record oil and gas production and exports. ‘The records of our energy boom are widespread,’ the president’s introductory notes state. ‘Energy production has created jobs in areas of the United States where job opportunities were scarce. It also provides enormous benefits to families across the Nation by lowering energy prices. And it further distances us from geopolitical foes who wish to cause us harm.’ The proposal’s pro-energy stance was not missed by critics of energy development on federal lands and waters. ‘It’s no secret that the Trump administration is hellbent on opening up our public lands for drilling and mining,’ said Center for Western Priorities Executive Director Jennifer Rokala in a statement.” [E&E News, 2/10/20 (=)]

 

Fisheries & Marine Life

 

Lawsuit Planned To Protect Cook Inlet Belugas. According to The Cordova Times, “Cook Inletkeeper and the Center for Biological Diversity have given formal notice of plans to sue the federal government to protect endangered beluga whales from adverse impacts of oil and gas exploration in Cook Inlet. Their announcement on Jan. 31 came in the wake of a decision by federal fisheries officials to authorize Hilcorp Alaska to ‘take’ marine mammals incidental to its operations in Cook Inlet, an authorization that would allow harassment of the belugas. ‘Belugas are known as the canaries of the sea because of their songs,’ said Bob Shavelson, Inletkeeper and advocacy director for Cook Inletkeeper. They are also the canary in the coal mine, sounding the alarm on their struggle in a struggling ecosystem, he said. The two environmental groups contend that seismic blasting used in oil exploration can reach 250 decibels and be heard for miles. It can cause hearing loss in marine mammals, disturb essential behaviors such as feeding and breeding, mask communications between individual whales and also reduce the catch rates of commercial fish. Shavelson also said that climate change itself is already having dire results on the marine environment. ‘You can be almost certain it is affecting their food supply,’ he said. Plans are to file the litigation in federal court after the 60-day waiting period has passed. A biennial survey released in late January by NOAA Fisheries estimates there are now only 250 to 317 whales in Cook inlet, with a median estimate of 279. According to the report specific reasons for the declining number of belugas are unknown.” [The Cordova Times, 2/9/20 (=)]

 

Conservationists Attacked In Mexican Vaquita Refuge. According to E&E News, “Conservationists on a Sea Shepherd vessel out to protect the endangered vaquita porpoise came under gunfire in the upper Gulf of California over the weekend by men in small boats. The confrontation took place Saturday in what is known as the ‘critical zone’ of an area designated as a refuge for the vaquita because several of the porpoises have been sighted there. Officials from the Mexican navy, federal police and Mexican environmental protection agency were also on board the M/V Sharpie. According to Sea Shepherd, four skiffs known locally as pangas approached the Sharpie and began to chase the vessel at full speed, swerving in front of and around the ship. The captain carried out anti-piracy procedures, including the use of water cannons. At least two shots fired from the skiffs landed in the water near the Sea Shepherd vessel, which was not hit during the incident. Sea Shepherd said no injuries occurred. ‘This just shows how aggressive the poachers are here. It proves to us that they are armed and that we need to take every panga that we come across seriously, because we have no idea what they are capable of,’ said Jacqueline Le Duc, captain of the M/V Sharpie. Sea Shepherd shared photos and videos of the pursuit online. Mexico’s environmental protection agency also acknowledged the incident, while saying it would continue to collaborate with Sea Shepherd in an effort to protect the environment.” [E&E News, 2/10/20 (=)]

 

Op-Ed: Strong Fisheries Management Will Keep Seafood On Florida’s Dinner Tables. According to Miami Herald, “The options for eating seafood are plentiful in Miami, from beach shacks to fine-dining establishments and everything in between. Equally plentiful is the seafood caught by U.S. fishermen that I and other Florida chefs are proud to serve and promote. The United States boasts some of the best managed fisheries in the world, making American seafood a preferred choice for sustainability advocates like myself and, increasingly, for consumers. But this wasn’t always the case. Until the mid-1990s, many U.S. fish stocks were being caught at an unsustainable rate — depleting the ocean of many of the species we love to eat. Fortunately, a wide range of stakeholders committed to sustaining U.S. fisheries and fishermen worked with Congress to make key changes to a federal law known as the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA). As a result of those changes, more than 45 of our country’s fish populations have recovered from perilously low levels, and the law ensures that they are now fished sustainably. For chefs in Florida, with more than 8,000 miles of coastline along the Atlantic and the Gulf, that means we have access to sustainable seafood on a regular basis. Yet, while our management system is strong now, the fate of Florida’s fishing catch faces new challenges, many driven by climate change. Red tide and warmer and more acidic ocean waters caused by carbon-dioxide emissions are threatening the state’s stone-crab fishery — worth millions of dollars to fishermen and restaurants that have built their brand on the succulent claws.” [Miami Herald, 2/10/20 (+)]

 

Sea-Level Rise

 

Cities Use New Financial Tool For Climate Protection. According to E&E News, “Hampton, Va., has a climate problem bigger than it can afford. Private investors may help close the gap. The coastal city of 135,000 — at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and the center of the 1.7-million-population Hampton Roads metropolitan area — is a poster child of climate risk. Seas are rising faster than its sea wall can handle. Storm surges are pushing farther inland, threatening homes and Langley Air Force Base, one of five critical Pentagon assets in the region. Heavy rains routinely overwhelm Hampton’s stormwater system. Flash floods turn low-lying streets into impassable lakes. But the 410-year-old city, whose motto is ‘First from the sea, first to the stars,’ isn’t going under without a fight. Its ammunition is an ‘environmental impact bond,’ a private-sector finance instrument designed to tap the nation’s $3.8 trillion municipal bond market to help cities like Hampton reduce climate risk using green solutions. ‘These are massive [climate] changes headed to cities across the country,’ said Eric Letsinger, founder and chief executive of Quantified Ventures, a consulting firm and leader in environmental impact bonds, or EIBs, that align financial interests with health, social and environmental concerns. ‘We start from the premise that there’s no way these cities are going to business-as-usual their way up that mountain. They’re going to have to innovate, and ... they’re going to have to find a way to pay for that innovation,’ he added. To date, only a handful of cities have used EIBs. The first was issued in 2016 by Washington, D.C., to help meet federally mandated combined sewer system upgrades. The $25 million bond was backed by the investment bank Goldman Sachs and the Calvert Foundation.” [E&E News, 2/10/20 (=)]

 

Ocean Health & Management

 

Disney Plans For 'Magnificent' Beach Divide Bahamians. According to E&E News, “Disney Cruise Line’s plan to convert an unspoiled parcel of land in the Bahamas into a cruise ship port of call has drawn criticism from environmentalists and divided locals, some of whom crave the economic opportunity it promises. Lighthouse Point lies at the southernmost tip of the long, narrow island of Eleuthera, which has a population of about 11,000. Sharks breed in its bright blue waters, sea turtles nest on its beaches, and bonefish are among the many species of fish found swimming in its coral reef. ‘You don’t see Lighthouse Point; you feel it,’ said Sam Duncombe, president of Bahamian environmental group reEarth. ‘It’s just magnificent.’ In 2018, the Bahamas National Trust, a nonprofit mandated by the Bahamian government to manage the country’s wildlife sanctuaries, recommended granting marine protected area status to Lighthouse Point. Instead, last March, the Bahamian government approved a deal allowing Disney Cruise Line to buy 751 acres at Lighthouse Point from a private seller. The cruise line, owned by the Walt Disney Co., plans to develop about 20% of the property into its second private port in the Bahamas. Disney says the project could cost as much as $400 million, partly due to extra precautions the company is taking to minimize its environmental impact. For instance, the company plans to construct a half-mile-long pier where 4,000-passenger cruise ships can dock. Extending the pier to deep water will prevent the need for destructive dredging, limiting disturbance to coastal habitats, Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty said.” [E&E News, 2/10/20 (=)]

 

 

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