OLYMPIA – After President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the first-ever national ocean policy today, state Sen. Kevin Ranker, D- San Juan, said Washington is uniquely positioned to benefit from this unprecedented effort to coordinate national policy for our oceans and coastlines.
“Nothing has highlighted our nation’s dependence on healthy oceans and coasts more than the current BP oil spill disaster,” said Ranker. “A massive spill in the Puget Sound or on our coast is unthinkable, but it’s not impossible. It’s clear that we can and must do better in how we protect and manage our oceans.”
The new federal ocean policy framework includes marine spatial planning as a key element, which Ranker helped establish as state policy when his Senate Bill 6350 passed into law in the 2010 legislative session. Washington became only the second state in the nation to adopt this tool for balancing and regulating the multiple uses of shoreline and aquatic lands – which include fishing, aquaculture, shipping, recreation and potential renewable energy facilities – in a comprehensive manner.
“At the federal level, you have 20 separate agencies trying to implement 140 separate and sometimes conflicting laws governing specific activities like commercial fishing, coastal development, water pollution control, issuing oil and gas contracts – just to name a few,” said Ranker. “It’s time for a management structure to not only identify all the multiple management objectives but also to coordinate across agencies and with the states to help us uniformly manage our ocean resources and protect them from harm. That’s what we’ve done in Washington and our efforts will fit beautifully with the same approach now being adopted at the federal level.”
Over a year ago President Obama convened a task force of 24 federal agencies and ordered them to develop recommendations for a policy that protects, maintains and restores our ocean, coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems. Ranker testified before the task force at the White House Conference Center.
“Those who depend on our aquatic resources – those in fishing, shipping and energy, as well as conservationists and recreationists – know that protecting our marine resources means protecting Washington’s economy and our nation’s economy now and into the future,” said Ranker. “There’s no question that we need to repair the damage in the Gulf of Mexico, but we especially need to work towards the future now with the type of national ocean policy that, among other things, will help ensure that a similar disaster never happens again.”
Posts Tagged ‘Puget Sound’
New national ocean policy good for Washington
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010Jay Inslee tackles oil in Puget Sound
Thursday, May 27th, 2010The images of the Gulf oil spill spreading into the Loop Current, and the foreboding warnings of oil hitting Key West and East Coast beaches should make one thing clear:
This isn’t just about the Gulf Coast. It is about all of our beaches, all of our water, and our economy.
When it comes to oil, it is never just about someplace else. It always comes back to hit the entire country — which is why we must seize this moment, when everyone can see right there on their TV and computer screens, exactly how our dependence on oil is a real threat to our entire nation.
Now is the time to demand action — we must pass a clean energy policy that makes sure we end this drill-spill-bill cycle by ending our dependence on oil.
Sign my petition to end our addiction to oil and pass comprehensive energy reform today!
We are working on legislation to protect the jobs and coastal commercial enterprises threatened by the spill. I am also co-sponsoring legislation to make sure taxpayers don’t have to pay one penny for the clean up — from Louisiana to Florida and now possibly up the East Coast. This bill will lift the liability cap that oil companies face from a mere $75 million to $10 billion.
In addition, I’ve asked the Obama Administration, joined by 78 of my congressional colleagues, to postpone any new drilling in the beautiful and delicate Arctic Ocean until we get answers about what happened with the Deepwater Horizon — and how a similar disaster can be prevented in the future.
To further advance the goal of preventing future spills, I will also be introducing legislation to require oil companies to use the best available automatic shut-off technology, as is already required in Europe.
We simply cannot afford to wait to end our dependence on oil.
Support comprehensive clean energy legislation that will end our addiction to oil. Sign my petition today!
This Gulf spill is a vivid, sad, and tragic reminder of the true costs associated with our addiction to oil.
Daily, we incur hidden costs associated with our addiction. We subsidize the security of commercial shipping lanes in the Middle East. We allow unabated emissions of greenhouse gasses without cost. We see our sea levels rising, oceans acidifying, and droughts worsening.
I am working in Congress to help the people affected by the Gulf spill and to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.
But make no mistake, nothing we do to contain the costs of oil will be enough. Our only real path forward is to leave oil behind. It is time to embrace our clean energy future, to quit cleaning up oil spills, and start implementing clean energy solutions.
Click here to help me pass comprehensive energy reform now.
Thank you for your support on this crucial issue.
Jay Inslee
Member of Congress