Throw off your Cheneys

Just when you thought it was safe to go near the Marine Monument (cue Jaws theme)

Barack Obama supporters may have thought they'd seen the last of Vice President Dick Cheney. Not so fast. According to an article in The Washington Post (reprinted in today's Saipan Tribune), Cheney is concerned about fishing and energy exploration around the northernmost islands of the Northern Marianas.

First Lady Laura Bush reportedly supports the proposed Marine Monument. According to the Post:

Claudia McMurray, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for oceans, environment and science, said the administration will be "working up until the last week" of Bush's term on the initiatives.

"While it would take a significant amount of work, we haven't ruled it out," she said. "We feel fairly confident, scientifically, there are so many unique species in that area, from that standpoint, we think it's important to wall off as much as we can."

It's not Obama time yet.

Don't bore me with facts

I've been mildly supportive of the proposed Marine Monument surrounding the northern Northern Mariana Islands; thinking it was more appropriate for people like David Sablan, Ike Cabrera, Agnes McPhetres and Karl Reyes to comment. I don't want opponents like Gourley and Joyner to muddy the waters by twisting it into 'outsiders telling us what to do'. After all, I've only been here for 25 years.

Still, I was surprised when I was polled about my opinion. It was obviously a survey of attitudes toward the monument-- and toward the military's presence in the Marianas-- but in no way was it a "sales job thinly disguised as a “phone survey” with Saipan residents as the target." I don't know whether Stanley Torres actually participated in the telephone survey, but I totally disagree with his assertion that "By using leading questions, ambiguous questions, and questions skillfully designed to hype their proposal they want to infiltrate every home on Saipan and try to sell their fairytale version of what this Bush Monument will mean to the children of the Marianas."

His letter sounds like a pre-emptive strike to discount the results if they don't favor his side. Not satisfied, he quickly slips into active paranoia: "There are favors being traded at very high levels and huge sums are at stake in this takeover bid." Whew, take a deep breath. Who is going to gain huge sums from a marine monument?

For myself, the questions clarified how important the issue is to me: not a deal-breaker, but certainly something I'll consider when I vote. Then again, I guess he was talking about me when he earlier wrote that "It’s not their ‘public land’ that would be given away should this [marine monument] be enforced by [President] Bush." Oh, wait, the 'public land' is the islands that are already protected by the CNMI Constitution. I guess the monument would be in the surrounding waters so that nasty federal government will be grabbing control... from themselves.

"How dumb do they think we are?" he asks. Let me rephrase that: how dumb do you think we are?

No worry, Representative Torres, I supported you for years because you were opposed, albeit ineffectively, to a lot of the CNMI government's mis-steps. That stopped a couple of years ago because of your increasingly vitriolic personal attacks on people you disagree with. I take it very personally that you are continually setting up 'statesiders' and 'mainlanders' as bogeymen.

Are scientists an endangered species?

The lame duck Bush administration is trying an end-run around the Endangered Species Act as a parting shot.

Its twisted logic? Federal agencies should decide whether projects affect endangered plants or animals before having scientists determine whether they affect those species.

The Department of Interior press release is a smokescreen to me, with code words and a lot of spin but not much information about the actual rule. I tried to look up the proposed regulation, but the process is not exactly intuitive. The closest I came was this proposal for the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. It includes the following line, which I think was paraphrased pretty well in my second paragraph:

Do not apply guidance contained in this chapter (FSM 2670) that pertains to conducting a biological assessment unless the LMP, amendment, or revision may have an effect on threatened or endangered species or is likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a proposed species, or will result in the destruction or adverse modification of designated or proposed critical habitat (FSM 2670.31).

I couldn't find a DOI proposal, but this seems to be what the press release is talking about.

'Snail darter' critics have been after the ESA for oh, about 35 years. Now it looks like they've found their champions. Changes may be needed, but that's why we've got a Congress. Gutting it backdoor through regulations is wrong... and typical of this administration.

MSNBC has a pretty good story, more balanced and easier to follow than the press release. According to them, scientists had little role in the rule change either:

The proposal was drafted largely by attorneys in the general counsel's offices of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Interior Department, according to a source with the National Marine Fisheries Service. The two agencies' experts were not consulted until last week, the official said.

That shouldn't surprise anyone who remembers scientific reports from the Environmental Protection Agency being edited by political hacks in the White House.


Monument in his own mind

Also not surprising is that this "Ocean President" seems to have forgotten Hawaii's Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument once it was created. MSNBC is also reporting that funds to clean up plastic and other debris have been cut drastically: Debris soils Bush vow to protect Hawaii islands.

Hey, but on the bright side, DOI has recruited the Little Mermaid to warn kids about dropping trash in the water.

Thirty days until the rule takes effect; six months until we get a President who gives a damn about the environment.

Size matters, and random observations

I loved the Marianas Variety's survey of Marianas gas prices: Rota $5.30, Tinian $5.00, Saipan $4.80 and Guam $4.57 per gallon. The differences are about what you'd expect given the islands' size and other factors. For good measure, we get a peek at $6.00 gasoline in the Federated States of Micronesia.

So we're all getting 'hosed' equally. The closing paragraph was entertaining, though not very amusing:

"Robert Koppen of South Pacific Petroleum Company, which runs Circle K gas stations, declined to comment, saying oil companies don't normally discuss gas price issues."

Fish stories

An anonymous poster had a cow because of my ruminations about the Marianas Variety and Saipan Tribune perhaps, er, leaning one way or another on the proposed Marine Monument. Follow the links and see how they handle the same story. No comment here; I want to be fair and balanced. You decide. (Gee, I always wanted to write that. Does Fox have the copy write?)

Site sighting

This is just a quick jab at my pal Ed Stevens for writing "re-zero your sites" in his Friday column. Tch, coming from an experienced writer and self-proclaimed gun nut. I wouldn't even mention it, but he once mocked my affection for The Elements of Style.

Round three to the Governor

The House of Representatives may oppose Gov. Benigno R. Fitial's 'emergency' takeover of the Commonwealth Ports Authority, but it's been outfoxed. The Governor has extended the state of emergency and there's nothing they can do. He's forced the board to resign, but no replacements have been appointed.

Monumental error

I wouldn't have run that Saipan Tribune story on the proposed Marine Monument. Study: Marine monument will infuse $333M to NMI

What's so earth-shattering that you have to use a few spoon-fed excerpts instead of waiting a week? That's sloppy journalism at best. Maybe the Tribune is staking out an editorial position in its news, that wouldn't be new. The quote from Century Travel's Dave Sablan might give us a hint.

And the Marianas Variety? Since they've come out against it editorially, they've adopted John Gourley's tactic of branding it the Pew Memorial. Yeah, let's talk about the Pew family instead of the proposal. I suppose that's one reason not to give them the 'exclusive' sneak peek.

I expect the response, probably from Mr. Gourley, to be about the article and not its content.

Make no mistake, the opposition is not limited to “some local government officials and lawmakers”, as Business Editor Stefan Sebastian would have it. I've had more than one person tell me 'I'm against it' and change the subject. They probably think I'll take off on them being uninformed, or ignorant, when I'm just asking for their views.

It's time for the supporters to look at this as a marathon, not a sprint. Extending the metaphor, elbowing in the turns is counterproductive. If it happens, it will be a matter of years, not months, of convincing, not criticizing.

Oh, I've always liked the idea. I look forward to reading the study.

Yer headline too

'Infuse' should be used in a headline... well, never, probably (and you infuse 'with' or 'into', not 'to'). On the same page, the Tribune descends into the seedy world of text messaging with 'Unidentified dead woman found in '79 was Miura's missing GF'. GF? WTF? On page five (? {I'm looking at the online edition now}) they have MVB eying a sinking ship. Arrr, matey.

But their headlines are often unintentionally entertaining, though too often in the passive voice. As in, Federal officials to descend on NMI. Nice image, are they bringing torches?

I regularly restrain my outbursts, but I've been looking for an excuse to mention the story chirping that “Resident Representative Pete A. Tenorio is by far the only one to submit his letter of intent to run as GOP candidate...” And if you've got to run press releases (they do), at least read them so we don't end up with “The Garapan Fishing Base Complex—boat launching ramp and the pier facility—will be closed off to all users and the general public starting June 27 through July 7, 2008, for the annual Liberation Day Parade.”

There's lots, but those are my current favorites. The Variety generally does better, though I wonder who slept through “Majority of government offices in the CNMI are located in buildings built before or shortly after World War II." I'd link it but the Variety search engine can't seem to find Monday's article Feds revising building code for insular areas