Comment: We have long held that the White House Memorandum and Executive Orders establishing and implementing a new "Ocean Policy" was one of the Administration's first acts of federal overreach.
| Comment: The "Rule of Law" subject appears when we discuss "Ocean Policy", but arises as a theme wherever federal regulatory powers are exercised–including with an Alaska mining project on state land. -dh
Last week Pebble CEO Tom Collier spoke at the Alaska Miners Association conference in Fairbanks, updating attendees on the status of the Pebble project, discussing next steps, and addressing a major federal overreach by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Collier expressed his confidence that although it has had setbacks, Pebble remains viable, saying “I would have stayed in Washington, D.C., if I thought Chairman of the board John Shively (NGP Photo) concurred: “Is it going to be difficult? Sure, but there aren’t a lot of easy projects left.” Journal of Commerce/AP by Becky Bohrer. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking the first steps toward possibly restricting or even prohibiting development of a massive gold-and-copper prospect |
this was done.”First. It created a broad new policy that threatens the economy of the country without Congressional approval or oversight.
Second. It caused this expansive and expensive new policy to be undertaken by usurping existing federal funding for programs that had been previously approved by Congress for lawful purposes.
In response to this overreach, citizens and companies created an National Ocean Policy Coalition (NOPC Logo, above).
That group has generally tried to responsibly react to the White House initiative by providing input, testimony and meeting with Administration officials.
Our readers know, however, that we have shown this Administration to be unconcerned with responsible comment about its programs. It goes through the motions of holding public hearings before proceeding to do what it wished to do from the outset.
This is one of many reasons we consider the Administration to have broken faith with Americans by violating the rule of law. When the citizens no longer trust in the rule of law, confrontation between those governing and the governed becomes more likely.
Today, we received a special report from the National Ocean Policy Coalition — which includes several Alaska public interest organizations. Its extensive reports include : I. NOPC Submits Mid-Atlantic Ocean Planning Comments, RPB Announces Meeting; II. New Request for Proposals Seeks Additional Assistance for Northeast RPB; III. New England Fishery Mgmt. Council Meeting to Include Northeast RPB Update; IV. NOAA Proposes Nearly Tripling Size of Two Marine Sanctuaries Offshore CA; V. MPA Federal Advisory Cmte Seeks Nominations, Announces Meeting.
Read the Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force |
We compliment supporters of NOPC for their hard work but urge readers to be more suspicious than ever of the motives of an overreaching federal government. After all, when fully implemented, a national ocean policy could make virtually all human activity subject to government oversight — since it is designed to regulate activities affecting the oceans and Great Lakes and the watersheds feeding them (i.e. the whole country).
Can you imagine the new bureaucracy that will be recruited from the ranks of the 'faithful' to fully implement a program to control the rest of us?
Farmers, parking lot owners, contractors and municipalities are especially at risk, for the water flowing from these sources — and every rooftop — will likely carry something worthy of regulation into a body of water that is, ultimately, ocean bound.
This is why we urge NOPC and every other citizen who takes an interest in this matter to cease cooperating with the concept and begin to fight for its outright demise! White House organizers will scoff at suggestions they will overreach. But if citizens and Congress let the Administration put the bureaucracy in place, the deluge of future controls and regulations will be impossible to contain.
It is an environmental activist's dream come true–or a tyrant's. -dh
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