Richardson Appointment Is Good News for Oceans

Most people don't realize it, but the Secretary of Commerce has enormous influence over America's ocean resources. That's why I welcome the news that President-elect Obama is tapping Governor Bill Richardson for this position.

He is well known for his roles as energy secretary and UN ambassador under Clinton. But Richardson, a former NRDC trustee, has also proven himself as an environmental leader in the American West. He has opposed building dirty coal-fired power plants and drilling in pristine landscapes, and he has advanced clean energy solutions and energy efficiency and blazed a trail for regional caps on global warming emissions.

What does all this have to do with oceans or the Commerce Department? Richardson may come from a landlocked state, but his experience as a steward will serve him well in his new job. The Secretary of Commerce oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA is responsible for our nation's ocean fisheries, marine sanctuaries, and coastal zone management programs. It also plays a major role in ocean science, including understanding the impacts of global warming on oceans.

In his role as Secretary of Commerce, Richardson can be a strong leader in reviving the health of our nation's oceans, which are in a state of serious decline. Here's just one alarming statistic: the population of the world's large fish, including tuna, marlin, and swordfish, is down 90 percent from original stocks.

Richardson can also position the US as a leader on international ocean issues. He is a big-picture person, someone who understands the global stage. There are seven seas out there, and Richardson's experience with bringing nations together will be immensely valuable.

But his expertise on energy and climate will be especially critical. Pollution from offshore oil drilling has an enormous impact on marine life, while global warming is turning our oceans more acidic and seriously endangering oysters, clams, crabs, starfish, and all other marine species that need conditions low in acid to make shells.

Richardson can help ensure that when the Obama administration and Congress address energy and climate issues there will be a strong voice for ocean conservation in these discussions.

If Richardson ever waivers in his focus on oceans, he just has to walk downstairs from his office. There in the basement of the Commerce Department sits Washington's aquarium--because that's where NOAA is. Hopefully, he will make frequent visits and appreciate all the ocean richness that is at stake in decisions he makes.

Richardson can set the tone for his new role by calling on NOAA to do the following:

1. Manage oceans holistically in the face of threats like climate change. This "whole ocean" approach should be coordinated across all NOAA programs and other related federal and state agencies.
2. Protect imperiled species. NOAA should use the full scope of its legal authority under the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act to ensure the survival and recovery of marine wildlife in the face of climate change and overfishing.
3. Establish healthy national and global fisheries. NOAA should fulfill requirements to prevent overfishing and rebuild depleted species, as well as crack down on illegal fishing and overexploitation of ocean life around the globe.

This post originally appeared on NRDC's Switchboard blog.

Comments

[GaDove]

Continued: Hunters from as far away as Australia and South Africa come to put-and-take "high-fence" hunting ranches like 2,000-acre Circle E in Bedias, TX where they can shoot exotic species like wildebeest and zebra for $6,500 a head.

"Don't call them hunters" wrote Port Huron Times Herald reporter Mike Eckert after viewing videotape from a high fence game farm in 2006. "The enclosure wasn't bigger than my back yard. Sick and dying deer were propped in front of killers who paid thousands of dollars to shoot them. For customers who were really slow to aim and shoot, deer were drugged."

"If they were bringing them down to hunt them instantly, how close to 'canned' hunting can you get?" he remarked to the AP referring to the probable Secretary of Commerce's favorite sport.

http://www.counterpunch.org/rosenberg12092008.html

[GaDove]

Bill Richardson and the Commerce of Dead Animals
Secretary of Bloodsports
By MARTHA ROSENBERG

New Mexico governor Bill Richardson will probably do fine as Secretary of Commerce. Unless he has to deal with animals.Richardson is among the one half of one percent of the public who is pro the sacred tradition of cockfighting which was legal in New Mexico until he sought the Democratic nomination for president. A cockfight consists of two roosters fitted with blades or gaffs on their legs fighting until one is dead or badly wounded. Richardson defended the "sport" on the Tonight Show in 2006 saying there were "good arguments" on both sides of the debate over its legality.

Richardson also loves doves. With bigger game he told the press, "you tend to get one or two shots. You've got to find them. But with dove, you have a lot of opportunities."Of course dove opportunities may dwindle as more states move to ban the annual decimation of the symbol of peace known as "dove season."

[GaDove]

I DO NOT AGREE that Bill Richardson has any business in being Secretary of Commerce! He would look the other way when animals are transported for cock fighting, canned hunting, and maybe even dog fighting. He would approve of exotic animals being shipped across state lines for canned hunting. He's NOT the kind of person that should be on Obama's Cabinet whatsoever. Find some other Hispanic to appoint, but not this one. Obviously Obama did not do his 'vetting' of Bill Richardson because a simple Google search turned up his anti wildlife views. See the facts on Counter Punch. One of the main reasons myself and millions of other enviro and wildlife supporters voted for Obama was to get rid of the Bill Richardsons that will not protect wildlife, stop interstate commerce of horses to slaughter in Mexico and Canada, the illegal trade in wildlife , etc....

[struwwwel]

No comment yet? Wellllllll

I think that head of the DOC is so far the most underestimated cabinet position and that Gov. B. Richardson with his wide record ranging from negotiating international compromises to handling energy and environmental issues to attracting new big biz to NM is really a very smart pick by Obama. This is not to say that R. would not have made a very good or perhaps better SOS than Sen. H.R. Clinton, but as head of the DOC he will be able to more widely apply his broad competence.