A Bush Legacy: Preserving The Oceans?

CBS Evening News: President Bush Designated Huge Swaths Of Pacific As National Marine Monuments

(CBS)  Rare birds and fish as well as unique geological formations are now under federal protection. President Bush designated three areas in the Pacific Ocean as national Marine Monuments - the largest marine conservation project in history, CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod reports.

"For seabirds and marine life, they will be sanctuaries to grow and thrive," Mr. Bush said.

Nearly 200,000 square miles are covered: The Mariana Trench near Guam and waters surrounding a string of islands far south and west of Hawaii. And Rose Atoll, an Island east of Samoa.

The area is home to colorful deep-water fish, sharks, whales and dolphins.

The Mariana Trench is deeper than Mount Everest is tall, with gasses from the earth's core bubbling through. And the only bird known to incubate its eggs with heat from a volcano.

Mr. Bush had already set aside 140 square miles of Hawaiian Ocean in 2006.

"Long after this president is gone and after many of the edicts of his presidency are long forgotten, these places and the life they contain will still be there," said Josh Reichart of the Pew Environmental Group.

And so as George Bush leaves office, the president many environmentalists loathe will have protected more ocean than any other person in history.

[commentators]

Is this a joke? Bush being remembered for his last-minute ''environmental legacy? I was so appalled be the absurd tag line, the moment Miss Katy said it, I immediately switched to another network. Until then, I was a regular viewer. By grabbing my attention with a bizarre obscenity, you''ve lost another loyal viewer!

[kansas1946]

Well, it is kind of funny. But, a good thing, nonetheless. That might move his grade on the enviornment up to an F+

[commentators]

Is this a joke? Bush being remembered for his last-minute ''environmental legacy? I was so appalled be the absurd tag line, the moment Miss Katie said it, I immediately switched to another network. Until then, I was a regular viewer. By grabbing my attention with a bizarre obscenity, you''ve lost another loyal viewer! Shame on you, Jim Axelrod.

[Jerry 2007]

I find it hard to believe that you would run such a story. This Administration has done more to set the environmental effort back than any previous Administration. I spent 27 years with the U.S.EPA and retired early due primarily to the extreme frustration we all experienced with Bush and his appointees. Be it air quality, water quality, or climate change his office has re-written regulations to make them less effective, stalled Agency efforts or passed revised regulations only to have them remanded to the EPA by the Courts then told to just "sit on them". Now CBS has the audicity to attempt to paint Bush as an environmentalist -- interesting......

[walt1944-2009]

The Soon-to-be Ex-Great Emperor Bush II has shocked everyone speechless by designating 3 huge tracts of the Pacific Ocean as national marine parks!

This from the same person who for the past 8 years has been allowing the systematic destruction of other national parkland throughout the country, letting corporate America strip whatever it can from our natural resources to sell for profit to other countries.

It is impossible to believe that Bush has decided to do something "good" without some kind of alternate motive which could bring either him or some of his corporate buddies some kind of profit. It is just not in his nature!

Perhaps he intends on using the areas as a mass graveyard for whales and dolphins who are destroyed by the USSA Navy during its sonar experiments.

SIG HEIL, I HAVEN''T DONE ANYTHING NICE FOR ANYONE I DON''T KNOW!!!, BUSH!!!

[standlee5]

Not to mention the huge area he protected in Hawaii that got absolutely no press at all.

[Edward_Virtually]

I''ll repeat the question: is this a joke? Does he think everyone''s forgotten he just allowed the Navy to resume needless and massively damaging to marine life ultra-powerful sonar use off the California coast? If that worthless @(% wants to "save the oceans" he should start by reversing that action. But he won''t, because as always he''s a dishonest $&#*.

[DragQueenWhatDragQueen]

HA! HA! HA! The only LEGACY befitting Bush, would be him being led out of the White House in HANDCUFFS.

[speakthetrut]

Preserving the Oceans???? You mean, except all regions where big decides to drill? People except Bush are not that stupid.

[speakthetrut]

Preserving the Oceans???? You mean, except all regions where BIG OIL decides to drill? People except Bush are not that stupid.

[laughing123]

The man is looking for a way to be remembered in a positive light, and although it should have come eight years sooner I wouldn''t rag on him for the effort. And as far as sonar off the coast of California, theres no way in hell any president is going to gimp our navy by taking away or downgrading sonar technology. It just isn''t going to happen, reguardless of whether or not a species of whale is being hurt. Environmentalists have to learn what battles are worth fighting.

[robo1776]

Bush Haters need to get over it and decrapify your brains - the oceans are important and this area is larger than Spain - get a life!

[caornm]

I interpet this move by Bush as a way to rob Obama for the credit. Bush knows the country will be attemping a turn around on the environment as soon as he is out the door. It is unlikley the future readers of history won''t be able to put 2 and 2 together after learning about all the destruction he has done to the planet.

[wilytrax]

This is just as fishy as all his other "Good Deeds"

http://www.SayGoodbyetoGeorge.com"

[runningralph]

President Bush will go down in history as the Liberator of Iraq and Afghanistan, Great Resistor of Jihad, Prompt Succor of Africa, Saviour of UAW, and Paramount Protector of Marine Wildlife. Had I foreseen this I might have voted for him despite his poor record with the Air National Guard. I just couldn''t see voting for any presidential candidate without an Honorable Discharge to hie credit. Little did I know that now we would have one without an American birth certificate to his credit.

[lmartink]

"Mr. Bush had already set aside 140 square miles of Hawaiian Ocean in 2006." This is a typo in the article above.

In reality, Bush actually set aside closer to 150,000 square miles of ocean in the NorthWest Hawaiian Islands . It covers a swath of ocean starting near Kauai, and stretching almost 1500 miles to the northwest, past Midway.

Two years ago Laura Bush visited Midway atoll, and spent time pulling noxious introduced weeds, and she participated in other conservation related activities. It''s unclear whether this was her idea or not.

This huge ocean preserve is administered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, NOAA, and is patrolled by the Coast Guard. Fishing and other extractive uses have been banned on either side of the island chain out to a distace of 100 miles.

Unfortunately, the horrible history of over-fishing, and over-extraction, in the NWHI has devastated much of the marine ecosystem. Many of the species there are on the threatened and endangered species list.

Say what you want about Bush, (I think he''s been a disaster for our country), but these vast ocean preserves are by far the largest set asides for conservation ever established.

[smurfcrusher]

This is a watery smokescreen designed to make Bush seem better than his environmental record shows he is.

If Bush was so concerned about the oceans he would have lessened global warming via carbon dioxide caps. The acidification of the ocean and increased water temperatures are destructive to coral and harms marine life.
Instead, he protects remote areas that were not under threat of exploitation anyway.

It''s a bit like burning the Amazon Forest down to the ground so he can survey the land and protect it for the natives. No serious academic will be fooled by these moves. I''m just grateful he''s not intelligent enough to realize this.

[beach671]

The entire Marianas Islands in a National Monument? Local fishermen can''t fish the waters of their islands their families have fished for thousands of years? Coconut Crabs (land crabs) now a protected species? I have them in my backyard. I don''t see how this is ''saving'' anything seeing how the 3rd Marines are moving from Okinawa to the Marianas and will have live fire ranges for mortaring/shooting. They''ll be launching amphibious landings on our beaches. Japan is putting a military base on OUR island. 2 Aircraft battle Groups will soon be porting on Guam...more nuclear submarines, fighter squadrons, missile battalion..we are already a land and sea bombing range, Marianas Trench is a nuclear waste dump site.

I really don''t see any protection other than military firepower and now local fishermen losing their right to fish their waters. Thanks GW.

[jsl45]

Shrub the Dumbnificent, the worst president in our history......trying to suddenly become an environmentalist is not going to change the disasters you were responsible for. Please go find a rock to crawl under and stay out of the American public''s view.....

[missingamerica]

"...the president many environmentalists loathe will have protected more ocean than any other person in history."

lolll...you know what that should tell you?

There ain''t no oil or minerals that are recoverable - and quite obviously no timber that can be harvested - "in the area comprised of the Mariana Trench near Guam and waters surrounding a string of islands far south and west of Hawaii. And Rose Atoll, an Island east of Samoa".

Bush "protecting" such an area is kind of like a child molester turning away in disgust from an 90 year-old woman.

[specialty8]

How can you bring Bush into this without Gore. He wants all of us grunts to go green so it makes more for him. Always preaching go green. He uses enough electric to heat his pools than a city block.

[realtruth5]

I think it is amazing that CBS can report about G.W. Bush being the President of an Environmental record, but, oh yeah, you have to report the truth!!! So you can give him that, right. Well than on his little award of achievements ( and I mean little) could you also remind the public of the gross mismangement of the EPA. The auditing of scientific data that changed the true findings of the scientists.
And the firing of scientific personnell and replacing them with oil lobbyist to fill positions, that make decisions about critical environmental concerns.
Let''s hope the people of this country do not forget about the facts and to honor people who deserves this award.

[harbinger09]

So when did the US President, become President of the world? Don''t stop there Bush, designate certain solar systems as National monuments or parks too, make the world safe for asteroids, comets, metors and red suns--then really go down in history as a complete schmuck, with delusions of grandeur.