Obama Gives US First National Ocean Policy
Editor's Note-
This is a great step taken by President Obama and at DPG we applaud the government for realizing the importance of our Oceans. Here is what the Associated Press had to say. More to come about this in the next few days. Stay tuned...
President Barack Obama on Friday set up a task force to craft the first US national policy for sustainably managing the country's oceans, drawing praise from environmentalists who said the move was long overdue.
"We are taking a more integrated and comprehensive approach to developing a national ocean policy that will guide us well into the future," Obama said in a proclamation declaring June "National Oceans Month."
The proclamation was issued along with a memorandum setting up the high-level Ocean Policy Task Force.
"Our nation's economy relies heavily on the oceans ... They support countless jobs in an array of industries including fishing, tourism and energy," the president said.
The task force will be led by the chair of the Council on Environmental Quality -- the main environmental policy adviser to the US president -- Nancy Sutley, the memorandum said.
Made up of senior policy-level officials, it will draft several recommendations and draw up a "comprehensive, integrated, ecosystem-based" framework for sustainably using the resources of US oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes.
