Trump rescinds Obama ocean policy
While most eyes have been on the nation’s southern border, the White House this week rolled out a new policy for the coasts, reversing an Obama-era program that sought greater protection of the high seas and angering environmentalists from New England to California.
An executive order signed by President Trump late Tuesday eliminates an uncelebrated but far-reaching review process put in place eight years ago among state, tribal and federal agencies to better coordinate ocean policy in the wake of the devastating Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
In a prepared statement, the Trump administration cited a need to “streamline” government and bolster domestic energy production and national security at sea.
“President Trump is reducing unnecessary bureaucracy and regulatory uncertainty which serve as headwinds for America’s ocean industries,” read a statement from the White House.
But conservation groups were quick to lash out at the president’s action. They said the order was doing away with an effective means of collaboration on such issues as fishing, shipping and offshore oil drilling, and would render states voiceless on weighty coastal matters.
“It’s a power grab,” said Richard Charter, a Bodega Bay resident and senior fellow at the Ocean Foundation. “This is a precursor to not only expanded offshore drilling and ocean mining, which we all know is coming, but any activity in the ocean that now falls under the exclusive control of the White House.”
Charter and others also said the new policy, while still only a framework with no immediate mandates, would make it harder for states and other regional players to pursue action on conservation and climate change.
President Barack Obama’s oceans policy was largely a response to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico industrial spill that unleashed hundreds of millions of gallons of oil and ravaged marine life. The directive called on state and federal governments to work together to promote “healthy ocean ecosystems.”
The order led to the creation of a National Ocean Council and nine regional bodies that met regularly to share research and discuss policy. Two of the regional boards along the East Coast developed longterm plans for their coastal areas, seeking a balance between conservation and development — actions that were similarly expected of the West Coast.
Trump’s new order calls for replacing the current system with a “streamlined Ocean Policy Committee.”
A trade group for the ocean industries praised the move, saying that longtime federal laws worked just fine before Obama’s changes.
“The offshore energy industry has successfully operated side by side with other ocean users, without major conflict,” said Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association.
Trump’s oceans directive comes as his administration looks to expand oil and gas drilling off the coast, including in California. An administration proposal to increase drilling leases remains under review.