One Big Step Closer to Sustainable Ocean Management
Eric Harris is the Press Secretary for the Religious Action Center. Before joining the RAC, Eric served as the Political Program Director for Earth Day Network's Earth Day 2010 campaign.
While the Torah, Talmud, and rabbinic
literature throughout the ages teaches us the importance of protecting human
health and the diversity of life, the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
teaches us the importance and fragility of our marine and coastal resources. In
an effort to create a more effective way of managing our oceans for both nature
and people, President Obama issued an executive order which initiates a new
national policy for ocean stewardship which directs the federal government to
make regional plans for the Great Lakes, ocean and coastal resources. In
addition, the order also instructs federal agencies with a stake in ocean
resources to formulate a comprehensive approach to execute the plans both
efficiently and effectively.
Environmental
advocacy organizations have
been actively engaged in getting to this historic point for nearly a
decade.
With this executive order, the United States is one big step closer to
running
our ocean's resources in a sustainable way. With an abundance of boats,
ships,
underwater cables and offshore energy facilities all vying for space in
our
oceans and lakes, the executive order harnesses a bold new approach for
managing these entities called coastal
and marine spatial planning (CMSP).
Through CMSP, we can gain a
better
understanding of how the ocean supports marine life, natural resources
and
multiple human activities, ensuring the health of lake and ocean
resources
while drastically minimizing marine conflicts. But these concepts aren't
new,
in fact around the United States, local governments have already engaged
in
this type of strategic ocean planning.