quote:WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush created a vast new marine sanctuary on Thursday, extending stronger federal protections to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and the surrounding waters with their endangered monk seals, nesting green sea turtles and other rare species.
The nation's newest national monument covers an archipelago stretching 1,400 miles long and 100 miles wide in the Pacific Ocean. It's home to more than 7,000 species, at least a fourth of them found nowhere else.
Bush announced his creation of the nation's 75th national monument at a White House ceremony. The decision immediately sets aside 140,000 square miles of largely uninhabited islands, atolls, coral reef colonies and underwater peaks known as seamounts to be managed by federal and state agencies.
Expanding the existing reserve and refuge to a monument of 140,000 square miles will make it the largest no-take marine conservation area in the world, just ahead of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
Hooray! It's like he was channeling Teddy Roosevelt, which is something I never thought I'd say about Bush. Good job Mr. President!
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Yup. It was a pleasantly surprising news report. It's a bit ironic that I'm the one pointing this out, though: President Bush would be hard pressed to find a site that is both larger and less offensive to industrial / commercial interests.
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I am very happy with his aproach to the border, which is timed. I have a strong feeling he will back a strong push to dissolve the border in 2012, and that makes me feel good about him.
But his environmental record is awful.
However, there ARE some changes in him which are wonderfully promising. Almost makes me want to be a Republican, were I not such a hardcore Green.
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I'm not a fan of the President but for I am happy to give him kudos on this subject. Hopefully, the environmental protection will continue.
Posts: 416 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Stephan: I wonder if he actually did anything at all. Was this area threatened in any way?
The article reads that the area was home to at least 1 endangered species and a source of life for a good-sized portion of the Pacific Ocean including very rare species. This seems to me to say that if for some reason the area was damaged then a great deal of the biodiversity of the Pacific would be jeopardized.
Posts: 980 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by theresa51282: I'm not a fan of the President but for I am happy to give him kudos on this subject.
Seconded, on both points. The cynic in me says that doing something like this gives the GOP something to point to if the Democrats field a candidate who tries to make environmental protection a major part of his campaign (say, Gore, just for the sake of argument), but even if that's true I'm still happy to see the sanctuary established.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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It'd be interesting to see a list of the various things like this that the past, say, five presidents have done. It'd also be interesting to see when in their term(s) of office such things were done.
You'd need to set it alongside a list of tightening and loosening of clean air requirements and the like, of course.
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It doesn't need to be forgotten in order to simply pale in comparison to all the damage he has done. Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I am no President Bush Fan. I also applaude this deed, and though it has not won me over to his side, I hope he listened to the moving speech he made while dedicating this.
The cynic in me says, "Ah, but discover oil under those fish and see how long it lasts." While that is amusing its unfair.
Thank you President Bush.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Clinton did this I think a dozen times, between creating new national parks and monuments, and expanding old ones. He took major heat from the GOP for doing so. And I'm pretty sure that all of his were done on land, not water. And I believe it was fairly spread out through his presidency.
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