January 21st, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Amid the fanfare of the inauguration, President Obama went to work on Tuesday, and among his first acts was to freeze pending last-minute regulation changes by his predecessor.

The move gave the endangered Rocky Mountain Gray Wolves yet another reprieve in the arduous, years-long battle over whether or not they should continue to receive federal protection.

In recent months, the Bush Administration has pushed through a succession of new rules and regulations, many aimed at environmental projects, trying to beat the clock on its expiring reign. (It’s not an unusual game. Bill Clinton also made many last minute changes – that were later stopped by Bush.)

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January 12th, 2009

By Shermakaye Bass
Green Right Now

When President George W. Bush announced plans recently to protect more than 195,000 square nautical miles of Pacific Ocean that are part of the United States’ official waters – a combined area the size of California – some eco-activists were surprised, even shocked.

The outgoing American president hasn’t exactly earned a reputation for environmental stewardship over the past eight years. And most in the eco-community agree that his on-land legacy has been a total failure. “Truly dismal,” says Dennis Heinemann, Vice President for Climate Change Programs at the Ocean Conservancy.

Except, he adds…when it comes to marine conservation.

Heinemann and others (the primary non-governmental players in the recent designations are the Marine Conservation Biology Institute, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Pew Environmental Fund) have been lobbying the White House and Capitol Hill to protect America’s coastal waters for years, even decades.

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January 6th, 2009

White House photo by Eric Draper

President George W. Bush smiles after delivering his remarks on U.S. Ocean Action Plan last September at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. President Bush has now protected more of the ocean than any other president.

Green Right Now reports

President George W. Bush today announced the establishment of three underwater monuments that will protect a vast area of the central Pacific Ocean that spans nine tropical coral islands and their surrounding waters.

The action was cheered by conservationists and environmental groups, including the Marine Conservation Biology Institute and Environmental Defense Fund, which each worked with the administration to establish the protections.

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