The first of this July we submitted our comments to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ocean Noise Strategy Roadmap. As submitted for public review we were generally pleased with the tone and essence of the work. It leaned…
Category: Public Policy
Perfunctory documents still haunting offshore regulations?
The initial post-disaster review of the contingency plans for the BP-Macondo operations revealed that the plans were a pile of boilerplate used as a proxy for the required papers. This was made clear to the public when the documents included…
Expressing the measure of things
Over the last week I was participating in an International Standards Organization (ISO) meeting hosted by the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) with an august assemblage of underwater noise stakeholders working on underwater acoustics standards. While this activity…
Central Coast Seismic Interview, Thur. Oct 11, 2pm KPFA
I will be discussing the controversial Diablo Canyon seismic survey proposal today on Caroline Casey’s “Visionary Activist Show” at 2pm PST on KPFA. Pacifica shows up on various frequencies in the Bay Area and can be found online at KPFA.org.…
Unabashed U.S. Navy Environmental Impact Statements
A few weeks ago we put out a newsletter commenting on the candor of the U.S. Navy in the release of their Hawaii-Southern California Testing and Training Range “Draft Environmental Impact Statement (HSTT-DEIS). I’ve just sent in our comment letter…
Follow-up on the Arctic Five Year Oil and Gas exploration plan
A few weeks back we asked you all to sign on to a petition addressed to NOAA chief Dr. Jane Lubchenko expressing concerns about the rampant expansion of Arctic oil and gas exploration and production (E&P). Thanks to your participation…
Fossil Fuel Noise in the Arctic – website launches!
If you have been anywhere within earshot of the media recently you may have noticed that the Oilmen are on a bit of a rampage. Any sustainable energy program, environmental regulation, or legal challenge that does not promote their agenda…
The Arctic is changing fast, and it’s going to cost us a lot
I’ve just finished reviewing a 1600 page “Draft Environmental Impact Statement” (DEIS) issued for public comments about the five year plan for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic. The objective of the “draft” is to provide US citizens the…
Marine Scientists express themselves through CNN
An article appeared today in “CNN Opinion” by Chris Clark and Brandon Southall focused on the impacts of noise on marine life. It is an informative read and also highlights two important trends in the field. First, it points to…
National Ocean Policy released today for public review!
Today the National Ocean Council released their Draft Implementation Plan for a National Ocean Policy. This is fabulous news because the US has never had a comprehensive ocean management plan, we have just been tangled in a web of agencies…