From the President’s Office – 7/31/09
Filed under: About,From The President's Office,News & Resources
Summer is supposed to be a slow time in Washington, but with the President’s desire for a National Ocean Policy recommendation in 90 days, things are moving like a freight train. Earlier this week I had the opportunity to once again brief the Presidential Ocean Policy Task Force, this time on the issue of oceans and human health (OHH). Rita Colwell opened the discussion with an excellent historical background of the OHH science efforts. She also promoted the need for more interagency interdisciplinary research and recommended having the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology’s, Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia and Human Health (4-H) working group be co-chaired by the National Institute of Environmental Health Science. Ed Laws from Louisiana State then gave a very nice talk about the impact of climate change on OHH and made the case for including OHH in the national ocean policy. Lora Fleming from the University of Miami then provided a broader picture of the needs for OHH – including research, monitoring/forecasting, exploration and development of marine pharmaceuticals, all leading to public health and clinical benefits.
I gave the final presentation regarding governance and highlighted the need for a White House mandate to entice agencies to better coordinate and provide resources to meet the various priorities that have been recommended by the previous Ocean Commissions, the Ocean Research Priorities Plan and the 4-H working group (http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/formsubmissions/54/OHH_Priorities_for_CEQ.pdf). Furthermore, I made the case that OHH is an opportunity for the President to make progress on two of his major initiatives – climate change and health. Overall, it was a very positive 90-minute discussion, and one that we hope will inform the development of the national ocean policy and the concurrent framework and implementation strategy.
Ocean Leadership has also been working with the Senate Commerce Committee regarding their draft Oceans and Human Health bill (S.1252). Let us know your thoughts or ideas, and how we can help move this emerging field forward.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate on a panel “From Sensors to Sensible Solutions” at “The Forum on Earth Observations III: The Environmental Information Revolution” organized by the Alliance for Earth Observations. Our panel addressed key questions regarding carbon monitoring, ocean observations, strengthening the Earth observations value chain, and delivering information products to an ever growing and more diverse user community. It was a wonderful opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas with experts from academia, industry and government. Many of the subjects are ones that I normally don’t focus on, so it was a very informative meeting allowing for an excellent opportunity to meet and interact with other sectors in the Earth observation field.
