Program Update: Advocacy – January 2010
Filed under: Action,News & Resources,Policy,Program Updates - Advocacy
US President Barack Obama is applauded by Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as he addresses a joint session of Congress in Washington (Credit REUTERS)
Plans are solidifying for Ocean Leadership’s annual Public Policy Forum scheduled for March 10, 2010. The event will open with a keynote address by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) followed by other presentations and panels featuring representatives from Congress, federal agencies and academia. The forum will focus on marine spatial planning, sea-level rise and the Arctic. The event will take place in the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center followed by a reception in the Rayburn House Office Building
President Obama’s Ocean Policy Task Force (OPTF) continues to develop a national ocean policy. The final report is expected to be released in February 2010. Ocean Leadership has submitted formal comments on the Interim Framework on Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning, the second draft report released by the OPTF. Ocean Leadership continues to engage with the OPTF as a resource and to provide advice from the external research community.
On Wednesday, the President delivered his first, much-anticipated State of the Union address. The main focus of the speech was the economy. He assured America the stimulus is working, stating that ‘because of the steps we took, there are about two million Americans working right now who would otherwise be unemployed.’ The President recognized the value of investing in science and research as an element of energy job creation. ‘Last year, we made the largest investment in basic research funding in history — an investment that could lead to the world’s cheapest solar cells or treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched.’ He also revitalized hopes of passing a climate and energy bill by declaring countries who invest in clean energy are world leaders. ‘Even if you doubt the evidence, providing incentives for energy-efficiency and clean energy are the right thing to do for our future -because the nation that leads the clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the global economy. And America must be that nation.’ Despite Obama’s call for action, the timeline for moving climate legislation forward remains unclear since healthcare is still an all-consuming Senate priority and the budget process will begin when the President’s FY2011 Federal Budget is released next week.
