From the President’s Office – 7/17/09
Filed under: About,From The President's Office,News & Resources
This week I had the pleasure of testifying on behalf of the ocean sciences community before the newly appointed Presidential National Ocean Policy Task Force. Needless to say, we were delighted to be asked to make this presentation. The meeting took place at the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which has been charged with recommending a national ocean policy, a framework to improve coordination of ocean stewardship, and an implementation strategy within 90 days. More information on the task force can be found on our web site (http://www.oceanleadership.org/2009/06/22/president-issued-a-memorandum-establishing-an-interagency-ocean-policy-task-force/).
We were asked to address the role of science in a national ocean policy, focusing on climate change, offshore renewable energy development, economic impacts and solutions to deficiencies in the current system. Federal officials representing CEQ, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, OSTP, NSF, NOAA, NIH, USGS, EPA, and OMB were in attendance and several of our members also participated via the phone. I focused my presentation (http://www.oceanleadership.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/national_ocean_policy-role_of_science.ppt) on a number of the most pressing gaps in scientific knowledge which are needed to inform sound ocean policy and management. Ocean Leadership also participated in a similar meeting earlier this week at CEQ that was organized for the environmental non-governmental organizations, and we have been invited to yet another working group session at CEQ later this month regarding oceans and human health. This certainly is an exciting time here in Washington as the White House has the various federal agencies working diligently together to build upon the work of the previous Pew and Commission on Ocean Policy reports to establish effective ocean policies to sustainably manage our greatest natural resource.
