Obama's policy is a positive step for our seas

Monday, July 26, 2010

Some say that the Deepwater Horizon oil-gushing disaster is Obama's Hurricane Katrina. Perhaps in response to that suggestion, President Obama signed an executive order last week to create a first-ever National Ocean Policy. Timed just days after BP finally capped the well and stopped the incessant hemorrhaging of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the president made the recommendations for how to sustainably manage the many competing uses of our coastal, marine and Great Lake resources the law of the land.

What we learned from this gulf tragedy is that we are not equipped to clean up a spill the size of which we are capable of creating, and we must plan to avoid such disasters. Had the ocean policy been in place before the Deepwater Horizon blowout, we would have been much better prepared to deal with the disaster. The Minerals Management Service would not have been allowed to fast-track oil drilling plans without input from commercial fisherman, conservationists, the recreational community, business owners and the public.

Try to imagine urban areas without city planning and you get a picture of our oceans, where competing interests are all vying for the right of way, the right to do business, the right to play and so on. Decisions about our oceans involve 20 agencies, administering more than 140 laws with varying purposes. This dysfunctional system, lacking a unifying policy that prioritizes stewardship and ocean sustainability, has left our waters and prized coastal economies in jeopardy. President Obama's new ocean policy is based on science and is designed to encourage government agencies to work together, involve regular citizens and protect habitat and wildlife. The policy was created from a public process that used the best scientific data and expertise around the nation, drew on the ideas and experiences from ocean users in industry and recreation, and heard comments from thousands of citizens during months of public hearings, including one here in San Francisco that drew more than 500 community members. Not only is this a good policy, but the process was also the right way to develop it.

This will lead to similar public processes with broad participation to map out the do's and don'ts for coastal and marine plans across nine federal regions. How will we address the growth of shipping and increased risks of oil spills along the coast of California? How will we manage increased development and shipping in the Arctic, now opened up as a result of climate change?

While I laud President Obama's vision, the policy does not go far enough. It's time that we create a Department of the Oceans, just as we have a Department of the Interior to manage our public lands. We need a Cabinet-level department head whose job it would be to unite the many offices and bureaus that work on ocean issues under the common vision of stewarding and protecting our oceans. Generations from now, given last week's monumental step toward healthier oceans, we hope President Obama's remaining hallmark will not be the worst oil spill in U.S. history, but sustainable, well-managed oceans and the thriving coastal economies they support.

Jackie Dragon is the marine sanctuaries director for Pacific Environment

This article appeared on page A - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle