WASHINGTON – Federal lawmakers’ reluctance to adopt new ocean policy “simply has to change” through increased awareness and collaboration, Maryland Rep. Wayne Gilchrest told an ocean research group Wednesday.
To illustrate his point, Gilchrest, R-Kennedyville, told the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education he is joining Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Frederick, to make a presentation to the House of Representatives on how energy policy affects natural resources and global change.
“One person’s opinion is not going to preside and make public policy,” he said. “It’s a blending of ideas.”
Gilchrest has numerous concerns about the state of the world’s oceans. Population increases near the coasts cause nutrient runoff, while climate change from global warming causes temperature-sensitive fish to move away from the coast and deplete seabirds’ food source.
Warming waters also disrupt the Gulf Stream. Proper balance is needed in the stream to prevent freezing temperatures in places like the northeastern United States and London.
The problem is Washington lawmakers are often too busy with Iraq or Medicare Part D to focus on oceans, Gilchrest said. His resolution to establish the Task Force on Ocean Policy was shot down in the House, he said, after lawmakers did not like some of Gilchrest’s votes on an endangered species bill and other legislation. The task force would have reviewed the final report of the United States Commission on Ocean Policy, entitled “An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century.”
Gilchrest referred to the situation as a “political vortex” where other members exacted revenge.
“The House is like the OK Corral,” he said.
Gilchrest found a shooting partner in Bartlett, who often speaks about “peak oil,” or the belief that petroleum production has peaked and a drastic new energy plan of “man on the moon” proportions is needed. Lisa Wright, press secretary for Bartlett, said Gilchrest has backed Bartlett’s oil concerns for years and participated in a number of Bartlett’s House floor speeches on the topic.
The two congressmen recently met with the Natural Resources Defense Council to discuss global warming, a topic that couples Gilchrest’s ocean and energy bills with Bartlett’s peak oil legislation, Gilchrest said.
The congressmen’s staffs will pool research to prepare a one-hour presentation on the House floor, Gilchrest said. They want to establish global warming as a real problem and address it through alternative energy sources and increased efficiency to reduce carbon dioxide and dependency on foreign oil.
Human activity, Gilchrest told the consortium, has mostly impacted the world’s water resources in a negative and degrading way. But policy makers pay little attention to the oceans that cover two-thirds of the world and provide some of the air we breathe, he said.
“Expressing this to my colleagues here in Washington is difficult, but not impossible,” he said.
Gilchrest struck a light, but contemplative tone at the podium after a speaker who expounded on line-items in ocean policy budgets. Preservation of global resources would allow people to enjoy nature’s design, Gilchrest said, something he does frequently in his canoe back home.
A nature trip in Kennedyville would be ideal for the consortium’s next meeting, he quipped.
“I can probably get canoes for everybody,” he said, smiling. “We can meet for 10 minutes going down the Sassafras River.”