Good Bill Passes, Bad Bill Likely Vetoed

Senators Rob Portman and Jeanne Shaheen with President Obama Good Bill Passes, Bad Bill Likely Vetoed Good bill: The Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015 was signed into law by President Obama.  This bipartisan bill was introduced by Senator Jeenne Shaheen (D-NH) with Senator Rob Portman (R-OH). ORI supported with 4,010 letters from ecostewards.  Lynn from Aurora IL writes with optimism: 'Children are our future and they will inherit the problems caused by climate change. Hopefully before the next generation matures, we will solve the problems."According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy the bill will spur the creation of 190,000 jobs, save the country $16.2 billion a year on energy bills by 2030, and reduce planet-warming greenhouse gases. The Energy Efficiency Improvement Act includes three simple but effective provisions that have been scored to be budget neutral. Title I establishes a voluntary, market-driven approach to aligning the interests of commercial building owners and their tenants to reduce energy consumption.  Title II exempts certain electric resistance water heaters used for demand response from pending Department of Energy regulation. Title III requires that federally-leased buildings without Energy Star labels benchmark and disclose their energy usage data, where practical. Bad Bill: President Obama has joined with ocean advocates strongly opposing the current House version of Magnuson Stevens Fishery Act because it would "impose arbitrary and unnecessary requirements that would harm the environment and the economy... [and] would undermine the use of science-based actions to end and prevent overfishing." In the bill are provisions that would weaken the protections provided by the Endangered Species Act, the National Marine Sanctuary Act and the Antiquities Act.  This bad bill, HR 1335, would introduce uncertainty and delays in rebuilding fisheries and generate sector and interstate conflicts. We have the best managed fishery in the world.  In 2014 removed from overfishing were haddock in the Gulf of Maine, Snowy Grouper in the Southeast, Albacore in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico Jack Complex and Bluefin Tuna in the Western Atlantic.  The Rebuilt List includes Gag Grouper in the Gulf of Mexico, Golden Tilefish in the mid-Atlantic and Butterfish Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras.  282 fish stocks are not on the overfishing list; 26 (8%) fish stocks are subject to overfishing. We need to build on this positive momentum for sustainable fisheries. SHARED FROM Stakeholder Forum with Regional Ocean Planners in Salem MA An open forum for New England states and federal partners, ngo's and tribal groups, was held to coordinate and collaborate on regional approaches to support balanced uses and conservation of the region's ocean and coastal resources. Big news, it was announced that the Planning Document will be completed by June 2016. This consensus document comes out of three years of very deliberative work. It sets planning goals for how we will manage the ocean, and will include details on how the proposed goals will be implemented. This first-in-the-nation document will set the bar for other regional planning groups to strive for. Noa Randall, ORI Spring Intern, rode the rails out to Salem and reports on her observations of the meeting. Noa titles her blog posting: Stakeholders Unite.

Blue Vision Summit 5 on Capitol Hill, Washington Rob and Ryan along with about 400 ocean advocates converged on Washington last week. Ralph Nader, Representative Sam Farr, Roger Berkowitz CEO Legal Sea Foods, Fabien Cousteau, Paul Rose, Sylvia Earle, Greg Stone, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Ed Markey all spoke to the necessity to do more for oceans.  Peter Benchley Ocean Awards were presented to HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco for Excellence in Stewardship by Enric Sala, Dr. Daniel Pauly for Excellence in Science by Jeremy Jackson,  Secretary of State John Kerry for Excellence in Policy by Senator Ed Markey, The Economist for Excellence in Media, Madison 'Pip' Stewart ("Shark Girl") For Youth Activism by Sylvia Earle, Nainoa Thompson for Excellence in Marine Exploration by Senator Brian Schatz.  And Todd Miller & Dana Beach for Hero of the Seas by Cynthia Sarthou. Up on the Hill 164 legislators were met by ocean conservation advocates.  Issues of concern included support of the Illegal international Unregulated, Unreported Fishing Bill and opposition to Offshore Drilling in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans.  Nearly heartbreaking were Bristol Bay Alaska fishermen and tribal groups attempting to stop a 4 mile in diameter copper pit mine called Pebble Mine.  Hope bloomed in prospects for a Climate Change Education Bill involving families and adult decision-makers. David Helvarg, founder and Executive Director of Blue Frontier, spoke with Rob about Blue Vision Summit 5 and his book: Saved by the Sea, Hope, Heartbreak, and Wonder in the Blue World onMoir's Environmental Dialogues.  Senators Rob Portman and Jeanne Shaheen with President Obama Good Bill Passes, Bad Bill Likely Vetoed Good bill: The Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015 was signed into law by President Obama.  This bipartisan bill was introduced by Senator Jeenne Shaheen (D-NH) with Senator Rob Portman (R-OH). ORI supported with 4,010 letters from ecostewards.  Lynn from Aurora IL writes with optimism: 'Children are our future and they will inherit the problems caused by climate change. Hopefully before the next generation matures, we will solve the problems."According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy the bill will spur the creation of 190,000 jobs, save the country $16.2 billion a year on energy bills by 2030, and reduce planet-warming greenhouse gases. The Energy Efficiency Improvement Act includes three simple but effective provisions that have been scored to be budget neutral. Title I establishes a voluntary, market-driven approach to aligning the interests of commercial building owners and their tenants to reduce energy consumption.  Title II exempts certain electric resistance water heaters used for demand response from pending Department of Energy regulation. Title III requires that federally-leased buildings without Energy Star labels benchmark and disclose their energy usage data, where practical. Bad Bill: President Obama has joined with ocean advocates strongly opposing the current House version of Magnuson Stevens Fishery Act because it would "impose arbitrary and unnecessary requirements that would harm the environment and the economy... [and] would undermine the use of science-based actions to end and prevent overfishing." In the bill are provisions that would weaken the protections provided by the Endangered Species Act, the National Marine Sanctuary Act and the Antiquities Act.  This bad bill, HR 1335, would introduce uncertainty and delays in rebuilding fisheries and generate sector and interstate conflicts. We have the best managed fishery in the world.  In 2014 removed from overfishing were haddock in the Gulf of Maine, Snowy Grouper in the Southeast, Albacore in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico Jack Complex and Bluefin Tuna in the Western Atlantic.  The Rebuilt List includes Gag Grouper in the Gulf of Mexico, Golden Tilefish in the mid-Atlantic and Butterfish Gulf of Maine to Cape Hatteras.  282 fish stocks are not on the overfishing list; 26 (8%) fish stocks are subject to overfishing. We need to build on this positive momentum for sustainable fisheries. Margaret Cooney, IFAW Ocean Noise and Capitol Hill Ocean Day 2015 Margaret Cooney, U.S. Marine Campaign Lead for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, spoke with Rob about the harm of too much noise in the ocean.  This recording was made sitting outside of the National Geographic Society building in Washington DC where Margaret and Rob were attending the Blue Vision Summit. Internet talk radio is the best medium to demonstrate the frustration of whales whose primary means of communication is by sound, not sight.  We attempt to dialogue while an ambulance passes with extreme decibels.  Margaret explains three sources of too much sound: shipping, the Navy and the oil and gas industries use of seismic testing as a dipstick to measure oil/gas remaining in the ground beneath their drills. World Ocean Day is June 8 3 Easy Opportunities to Support ORI Monday June 8th is World Oceans Day.  In celebration of this day California Pizza Kitchen's Cambridgside Galleria location will be donating 20% of your purchase to the Ocean River Institute. So if you're near Cambridge, you may help us save the ocean by eating pizza. Present your server with the "It's pizza with a purpose!" flyer.  Click here for your flyer and to forward it to friends. We've got checks from Opinions for Good (Op4G) and from Amazon Smile  Join others in supporting us by using these two opportunities. Each time you shop or take a survey, you will earn money for ORI. Every time you make a purchase on the Amazon Smile website, Amazon donates a percentage to us. Your actions are adding up.  If you haven't already joined in these activities, please consider doing so. Click here to make ORI your chosen smile.amazon.com charity . Click here to earn money for yourself and us on Op4G.  Pathways To a Bluer and Greener Planet Earth Moir's Environmental Dialogues, Ocean River Shields of Achilles.Choose from ninety-six podcast episodes, also available free on iTunes. Join ORI's Fan page on Facebook.  Help us reach 2,000 likes. See what others are saying about ORI and why we are a five-star nonprofit on Greatnonprofits.org. Earn money for ORI when you shop at Amazon Smile and for yourself by joining Opinions 4Good (www.Op4G.com) . Consider donating 100% of your earnings.  Save our oceans and rivers with ORI logo items. Visit our "Ocean River Ducks and Paddlers Store". Twitter OceanRiverRob for wave breaking news and updates.

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