POLITICS: NOAA head and White House science adviser picks approved by Senate

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Buck

The two nominees — John Holdren and Jane Lubchenco — cleared the committee in a unanimous vote this afternoon as part of an unannounced, closed-door markup, a committee aide said. The panel’s approval sends the nominees to the Senate floor, where they should pass by unanimous consent within the coming week, according to leaders of the committee from both sides of the aisle.

“They’re going to be confirmed,” said Commerce ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas). Hutchison said there are no Republican holds on the nominees.

At issue are the confirmations of Harvard University physicist John Holdren, picked to head the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Oregon State University marine biologist Jane Lubchenco, in line to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Both positions could play key roles in the administration’s policies on climate change, marine conservation and other environmental issues.

. . .

Lubchenco and Holdren had a smooth hearing in the Commerce Committee last month, but their confirmations have been delayed by anonymous holds in the Senate. Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have said the holds were not a direct objection to the nominees but an attempt to gain leverage on separate issues.

Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said today that the holds — at least all of those he knew of — have been released and the nominees should advance in the coming days.

. . .

Lubchenco, a conservationist and zoologist, has focused much of her research on climate change, ecosystems and marine reserves and placed considerable emphasis throughout her career on advocacy and public policy. As NOAA’s leader, Lubchenco would oversee a $4 billion agency whose responsibilities include a large portion of the federal government’s climate change research as well as marine issues.

Holdren was a driving outside force for more attention to climate change issues during the Clinton administration. As a leader of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, he helped focus more government and industry attention on climate change-related technology and international clean energy initiatives, as well as on a federal program to develop a hybrid-electric car that was later dismantled by the Bush administration.

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POLITICS: Confirmation of top science picks on hold

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Buck

Who in the Senate is upholding the approval of White House science adviser John Holdren and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) head Jane Lubchenco? From TPMDC:

To bring folks up to speed, it appeared initially that Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) was the sole lawmaker standing in the nominees’ way, thanks to an unrelated dispute with Democratic leaders over the Cuban trade embargo. But that obstacle is no longer operative, leaving the situation murky as Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) references multiple holds on the nominees.

Yesterday we ruled out two GOP suspects, Sens. David Vitter (LA) and Mel Martinez (FL). Today we can strike two more likely suspects from the list: Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and John Barrasso (R-WY) both strongly oppose Holdren’s pro-regulation stance on climate change, but both told me they’re not behind the holds.

Inhofe couldn’t confirm that the holds weren’t coming from his environment committee, but he said flat out: “It’s not me, though.”

MARINE MAMMALS: Right whale shuts down Cape Cod Canal

Posted on December 9, 2008 by Buck

right-whale-sightings IMAGE: The above image illustrates the Cape Cod Canal right whale sighting marked as 1. The image at left shows a right whale with calf. Image by NOAA.

Earlier this week, the Cape Cod Canal was closed for several hours to allow a North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) safe passage through the canal. The North Atlantic right whale is a critically endangered species, and it is threatened by ship strikes. NOAA finally promulgated regulations to mitigate deadly interactions with cargo ships after some substantial foot dragging by the Bush Administration. Apparently, Vice President Dick Cheney’s office was instrumental in delaying the process. However, Senator John Kerry introduced legislation earlier this year (The Ship Strike Reduction Act of 2008), which required the “Bush Administration to finalize a rule establishing speed limits for specified vessels in migratory paths of North Atlantic right whales.” The North Atlantic right whale is so critically endangered that its population cannot sustain any loss of individuals, especially breeding females. From the Boston Globe:

It is relatively rare for a right whale to find its way into the canal. It only happens about once or twice a year, said Scott Landry, director of whale rescues at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies.

“It just happens by chance. Most whale species tend to wander quite a bit,” said Landry. “Just because it was by the canal we don’t think there was something wrong. Wandering is a natural part of the whale.”

The 35-foot whale entered on the Cape Cod Bay side and it was escorted by a US Army Corps of Engineers boat through to the Buzzards Bay side of the canal.

The whale appeared unharmed, said Dave Carriuolo, a marine traffic controller with the Corps at the canal, and there were no significant delays in commercial traffic.

The whale was initially spotted around 9:30 this morning. The canal was closed at 1 p.m. and reopened at 3 p.m. said Carriuolo.

Ships must begin to slow down for North Atlantic right whales. From NOAA:

Ships in southeastern Atlantic and mid-Atlantic U.S. waters must slow down to protect endangered right whales starting this week.

A landmark regulation going into effect on Dec. 9 will require ships 65 feet or longer to travel at 10 knots or less in certain areas where right whales gather. These new speed restrictions will take effect in waters off New England beginning in January 2009 when whales begin gathering in this area as part of their annual migration. The goal is to reduce the chances ships will collide with whales, injuring or killing them.

With only 300 to 400 in existence, North Atlantic right whales are among the most endangered whales in the world. Their slow movements and time spent at the surface and near the coast make right whales highly vulnerable to being struck by ships, especially since shipping lanes into East Coast ports cut across their migration routes.

The 10-knot speed restriction will extend out to 20 nautical miles around major mid-Atlantic ports. According to NOAA researchers, about 83 percent of right whale sightings in the mid-Atlantic region occur within 20 nautical miles of shore. The speed restriction also applies in waters off New England and the southeastern U.S., where whales gather seasonally.

The speed restrictions apply in the following approximate locations at the following times; they are based on times whales are known to be in these areas:

Southeastern U.S. from St. Augustine, Fla. to Brunswick, Ga. from Nov. 15 to April 15
Mid-Atlantic U.S. areas from Rhode Island to Georgia from Nov. 1 to April 30
Cape Cod Bay from Jan. 1 to May 15
Off Race Point at northern end of Cape Cod from March 1 to April 30
Great South Channel of New England from April 1 to July 31

NOAA also will call for temporary voluntary speed limits in other areas or times when a group of three or more right whales is confirmed. Scientists will assess whether the speed restrictions are effective before the rule expires in 2013.

On the Net:

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ENDANGERED SPECIES: Contradicting Sarah Palin’s view, NOAA lists Cook Inlet beluga whales as endangered

Posted on October 19, 2008 by Buck

IMAGE: NOAA fisheries biologists fix a satellite transmitter onto a female beluga whale in Cook Inlet, Alaska. (AP Photo/NOAA)

Genetic isolation from other beluga whale stocks, industrial development, and a failure to recover are some factors that resulted in NOAA’s decision to list the Cook Inlet population of beluga whales as endangered. NOAA’s decision contradicts Republican vice-presidential candidate Alaskan governor Sarah Palin’s view that Cook Inlet beluga whales are not endangered. From NOAA:

In 2000, NOAA declared the Cook Inlet beluga population depleted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In response to a petition submitted by the Trustees for Alaska on April 20, 2006, the agency proposed on April 20, 2007, that Cook Inlet beluga whales be listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The act requires a final determination by Oct. 20, 2008. This announcement is the result of NOAA’s scientific review of the proposal to list Cook Inlet belugas.

The Cook Inlet beluga population declined nearly 50 percent between 1994 and 1998, based on annual scientific surveys. NOAA scientists estimated the Cook Inlet beluga population at 375 for both 2007 and 2008. Estimates have varied from a high of 653 belugas in 1994 to a low of 278 belugas in 2005.

Despite restrictions on Alaskan Native subsistence harvest of Cook Inlet belugas starting in 1999, the population is still not recovering. Between 1999 and 2006, Alaska Native hunters took a total of five Cook Inlet beluga whales for subsistence. No beluga whales were harvested in 2007 or 2008.

Cook Inlet belugas are one of five populations of belugas recognized within U.S. waters. The other beluga populations inhabit Bristol Bay, the eastern Bering Sea, the eastern Chukchi Sea, and the Beaufort Sea. Of the five stocks of beluga whales in Alaska, the Cook Inlet population is considered to be the most isolated, based on the degree of genetic differentiation and geographic distance between the Cook Inlet population and the four other beluga stocks.

The recovery of the Cook Inlet whales is potentially hindered by strandings; continued development within and along upper Cook Inlet and the cumulative effects on important beluga habitat; oil and gas exploration, development, and production; industrial activities that discharge or accidentally spill pollutants; disease; and predation by killer whales. The agency will identify habitat essential to the conservation of Cook Inlet belugas in a separate rulemaking within a year.

On the Net: Experts reject Palin’s claim over decline of beluga whales in Alaska
On the Net: Cook Inlet Alaska Beluga Whales and Beluga Whales in Western Alaska

SHARK WEEK: RECOMMENDED IMAGE(S): Humpback whale calf attacked by tiger sharks

Posted on July 19, 2008 by Buck

On television, we’re use to seeing land predators such as lions take down their prey in parts of the world like Africa. However, NOAA officials had a rare opportunity to photograph several tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) attack a sick humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) calf back in November 2006 off the Kailua-Kona area of Big Island, Hawaii. The scenes are dramatic, because they offer an extraordinary glimpse into the life and death struggle occurring underneath the ocean waves. From NOAA:

They also noted that little could have been done to save the animal. “Shark attacks are part of the natural world in which these animals live,” said Viezbicke. “To them an ailing marine mammal is a meal and what happened was a natural process within the marine world.”

Following the year-old mammal’s death, its carcass was towed and tied to a fish buoy approximately three miles off shore. Officials returned the next day to find the remains gone.