White Houses, Right Whales and Moby Dick Cheney
As the candidates engage in an ultimately pointless, fruitless debate over whether or not to give the gasoline tax a summer holiday, the Office of Vice President Dick Cheney secretly has been developing a quaintly 19th century solution to the energy crisis.
Whaling.
At least, that’s one possible conclusion you might draw from last week’s report out of California Congressman Henry Waxman’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
According to documents leaked to and released by the committee, for more than a year Cheney’s office and the White House Council of Economic Advisors, coordinating with the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, have been holding up a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) rule that would protect the North American right whale, one of the most endangered animals in the world.
The rule would require vessels moving across certain Eastern seaboard shipping lanes at certain times of year to lower their speed to ten knots or less, reducing the chance of colliding with the whales. There are fewer than 400 left alive, placidly swimming the waters of the planet.
NOAA has stated unequivocally, “There is a direct relationship between speed and death/serious injury… at vessel speeds at or below 10 knots the probability of death/serious injury is greatly reduced.”
In a letter to Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Susan E. Dudley, Rep. Waxman writes, “Collisions with ships currently are the leading cause of right whale mortality in the western North Atlantic. Ship strikes have caused at least 19 deaths since 1986, with more suspected but unreported…
“NMFS [National Marine Fisheries Service] says that ‘no mortality or serious injury for this [whale] can be considered insignificant’ and that the death of even a single whale, particularly of a breeding female, ‘may contribute to the extinction of the species.’”
(Readers may recall that Ms. Dudley holds what Clean Air Watch President Frank O’Donnell called “one of the most obscure yet powerful jobs in Washington… The person in this position can, largely without public scrutiny, interfere with actions of agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency, and become a conduit for industries seeking to avoid federal health, environmental and safety standards.” This she has done.)
Waxman’s report cites an internal document showing that “officials working for the Vice President… raised spurious objections to the science… While I appreciate the value of vigorous scientific debate,” the congressman continues, “I question why… the Vice President’s staff is challenging the conclusions of the government’s scientific experts. The appearance is that the White House rejects the conclusions of its own scientists and peer-reviewed scientific studies because it does not like the policy implications of the data. This is not how the review process is supposed to work.”
So why all the interest on the part of our great white veep and his minions? If you buy into the premise of my lead, and taking into consideration Cheney’s antediluvian thought processes, I believe he’s planning to take the whales knocked off by the ships and use their oil to fuel our lamps. Energy crisis solved!
But seriously, folks, the real reason would seem to be, as the Washington Post reported last Thursday, “Some shipping companies have opposed the NOAA proposal, saying slowing their vessels will cost the industry money.” The World Shipping Council, the lead Washington lobby organization for the international cargo and container ship industry, actively has opposed the rule and in a 2007 report claimed potential losses as high as $100 million a year.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, since 1990, the shipping industry has made close to $30 million in political contributions in the United States, with about 58% going to Republican candidates (63% in 2004, Bush’s reelection year). Do the math.
More broadly, as the Associated Press reported, “The revelations surrounding the right whale regulation come amid criticism from members of Congress and conservation groups of alleged White House interference in the work of government scientists involved in a wide range of areas from regulating toxic chemicals to climate change and protecting endangered species.”
Just this weekend, the Post noted the resignation “under pressure from the Bush administration” of Mary Gade, head of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Midwest office. She had “fought for months with Dow [Chemical] over plans to address dioxin contaminated soil and sediment in Saginaw Bay and Lake Huron stemming from the chemical giant’s Midland, Mich., plant. Dioxin, which at low levels of exposure has been found to cause cancer as well as immune and reproductive system problems, is a byproduct in the production of Agent Orange and other chemical products.”
Speaking from the floor of the US Senate Friday morning, Rhode Island’s Sheldon Whitehouse said, “We do not yet know all the details of Ms. Gade’s firing or everything that may have gone on between EPA and Dow Chemical. But from all we have heard and seen, Mary Gade’s story seems like déjà vu all over again from an administration that values compliance with a political agenda over the best interests of the American people.”
Save the whales? Hell, save ourselves.
Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East and former writer with Bill Moyers, writes this weekly column for the Messenger Post Newspapers in upstate New York.
copyright 2008 Michael Winship
What a surprise! Cheney trying to destroy all living creatures in the planet for profit? I can’t believe it…
Cheney hunts.
You dont find many genuine naturalists among those who view other life as a commodity that you kill over and over again.
That’s why the Sierra Club and WWF keeps its hunting members in the sidelines.
Ducks Unlimited is more honest–its name suggests a objectified resource.
Tires Unlimited!
Cars Unlimited!
Henry Waxman expresses disapproval, writes a little report, and the Republicans just laugh it off. Why not? They know Democrats stand for nothing, commit to nothing, fight for nothing.
When the Republicans have 41 votes in the Senate, Harry Reid rolls over and plays dead. Don’t make them really have to filibuster! Just the threat is enough.
But the Democrats have never had less that 41 votes in the Senate, not for one second of the administration of George W. Bush.
They could have prevented the invasion of Iraq, they could have avoided the trillion-dollar tax breaks for billionaires and oil companies, they could have prevented the evisceration of the whole spectrum of environmental law.
But the Democrats stand for nothing, commit to nothing, fight for nothing.
Right whales will become extinct, tigers will become extinct, and a million other species likewise, and the Democratic Party will remain…
The Party of nothing.
Again, what it comes right down to is the ONLY American value that really holds any meaning… and that’s GREED. What’s a few hundred whales compared to $100 million? There is a sickness inflicting this planet and that sickness is greed. Money over everything else. And the really sad part is that this is a man-made sickness… We CHOSE to adopt the idea of money and economics, and have been paying the price with our lives and environment ever since. The modern age may be all lovely with the high-tech gizmos and modern medicine and creature comforts, but there’s really something to be said about the simpler times long past.
Money and therefore greed is sacred and justifies any cruelty to humans or animals, any abomination of nature, and will in the end destroy this planet.
When even the rats don’t give a rats’ ass why should the greedy.
Behold the greedy for they shall inherit, steal, and take everything ’cause enough is never enough.
With death comes equalization of everything for everyone.
Priceless, non ?
Now, the fact that Cheney is the devil incarnate notwithstanding, asking ocean going ships to travel at a measly 10 knots, on the off chance that if they hit a whale it might hurt it less seems kinda impractical, doesn’t it?
I lack the language to describe this man, Cheney. The only true (I am not kidding) way for me to describe his beingness takes the mythological form of the shadow within the shadow — the black hole of the darkest side of pathologically driven creatures residing within the evil empire. He is the black-hooded, long finger-nailed advisor who wreaks in whispered tones — the bad-breath advice to the emperor about innovative ways to govern by cruelty. The one time he came out into the light of day was to hunt and he shot his fellow hunter in the face. I suppose when Cheney bleeds, his blood’s color is black and it hisses because of its acid content. This guy is the worst of contemporary — “Counter-Jedi.”
Kelmer,
Cheney doesn’t hunt. He goes to “Hunting Clubs” where they bring birds in cages out to a field, open the cage doors and shoot at the birds as they fly out of the cages. This is exactly what Cheney was doing when he shot that guy in the face. The fact that Cheney thinks this is a good time speaks volumes.
I think the Daily Show did a piece on it.
>daveg May 6th, 2008 7:57 pm
Now, the fact that Cheney is the devil incarnate notwithstanding, asking ocean going ships to travel at a measly 10 knots, on the off chance that if they hit a whale it might hurt it less seems kinda impractical, doesn’t it?>
Yes you are right, slowing down to the speed vessels must use in human harbors and passageways is impractical when it only affects the breeding grounds of animals… Heavens you’d think animals had rights to be unaccosted in the seas they’ve used as breeding grounds for centuries!
The only truely practical solution would be to prohibit ships from the area entirely.
Jeffrey, I have the language to describe Cheney but it would probably get me banned from this site for profanity. It seems to me that slowing ships would also cut fuel consumption, which would be a good thing. On the other hand, if Cheney dies we could get enough lard to meet our fuel needs for some time, and the amount of hot air in the atmosphere would decrease considerably. Since he’s had several heart attacks, repeated bypass surgeries, a pacemaker and a defibrillator and still smokes 3 packs each day, that could happen. Obviously he’s a slow learner.
Cheney is called Dick because he has a head with no hair, no vision, no hearing and no brain. He is supported by a Bush and pisses on or screws anyone he can. He shot a friend in the face. And Scooter Libby was his condom, protecting him while he screwed Valerie Plame then getting tossed.
Capitalists like Cheney attempt to package everything for sale including their souls. Once having done so they feel licensed to create hell on Earth. They seethe at people who have the strength not to sell their souls. Listen closely and you can hear the hissing and gurgling of the sellouts. They get really upset when someone derails their death machines.
Slow down shipping? On the off chance that you MIGHT hit a whale? Not an economically feasible idea,.
How about foam-rubber freighters instead? Or put AIS or radar beacons on all the whales?
Moby Dick was a valiant and righteous whale and should not be besmirched or slandered by being connected in anyway to the wicked Dick.
Repeat after me: No more Lying,
Spying,Torture or
Pentagon Propaganda?
Duke it out with the FAUX media now!
While their guard is down!
Would stopping the Red Herring now possibly mean eating less of it later?
Or
Will The Bologna Factory ever stop churning out BU__! SH__!?
U-bet they would!
But, only if you made them.
They only respect Power.
They hate weakness.
That is what got us here in the first place.
Power talks to Power.
What is, is.
Either protect what belongs to you or loose it.
The free lunch is over
The Titanic is sinking in Shark infested waters.
Two Thousand High Priced Parrots
Protecting their jobs.
At a Beggars Banquet
Monitored by handlers.
How long do you think a Propagandist would last?
If they really told the truth?
About two seconds.
Georgie Porgie would wave his Magic Wand
And they would disappear forever.
Who was that Masked Man?
Who did he used to work for?
The Corpirate Mafia
A twist of a finger, a threat or both:
Anything necessary to put him back on track.
Into the The Corpirate’s Bill-fold.
Spewing a Monolithic Delusion!
We’ve all seen it happen!
Somebody momentarily wakes up.
Leaves the script and starts telling
The TRUTH!
Starts being a Human Being instead of a Robot!
Next thing you know.
His microphone is cut off!
The Show goes to commercial and they
Magically disappears from the screen.
Within hours they reappear on center stage, back on message
Recanting everything they’ve said.
Touting the Corporate Line.
What power! What control!
What are they so afraid of?
That they Swallow their Laughter?
If anyone does?
They surely do.
Laughter can really KILL you!
Gone would be: their Job, big House, chauffeured driven Limousine and fancy Cars.
Replaced by a broken bone or even worse.
Everything Joe Schmoe gets for free.
Sounds pretty awful to me.
Even though they’d deserve it!
For screwing us.
Sound familiar?
Make your choice it’s either
Now or later!
More Torture, Treason and Hypocrisy or?
The Buck Stops here.
Stop talking about
Doing something later and about passing our problems off
On our children.
The Propagandists protect their way of life by continuing to sell us out.
Except that without us?
There is none
No life
Nowhere
It is a dirty job and someone has to do it.
Blah, Blah, Blah!
It is the biggest joke on the planet and
The People
The American People have yet to get it.
The Patsy is always the last to know.
It is a sham.
Out with the old mass Delusion and
In with the new.
The world is falling apart and they must continue the Illusion.
Dead bodies everywhere and the stink never reaches their nose.
Something’s Rotten in D.C.!
The Shrub and Dead Eye are striking up
The Military Band again
For one last march
Over a cliff.
Robot ROVIEN Hand Puppets for everyone!
Picked for their ability to
Repeat everything they’ve been told.
There is no subtlety here.
Totally Corrupt
Stink Tank
Propaganda.
It is their complete utter disdain for the common man and
The ruthlessness in which they dehumanize their victims
I have trouble understanding?
Their
Inhumanity to Man.
They paint a pretty face on a horrible picture
To make it easier to live with:
The Brutality of their Control.
daveg said: asking ocean going ships to travel at a measly 10 knots, on the off chance that if they hit a whale it might hurt it less seems kinda impractical, doesn’t it?
Yeah, that’s sorta like asking cars to slow down to 15mph in a school zone, on the off chance that they might hit a child… really impractical considering that people have places to go and things to do…
That sounds kinda stupid doesn’t it? THink about it.
AlexLawyer: lol
good one, just to confirm:
when you’ve got a sick Dick and a rather fishy Bush, is it any wonder nothing good is created?
Our consumerism is not on a future collision course with the biosphere, it collided the day consumerism was defined and implemented as the economic standard and unit of measure for success. The theory and practice itself is based off a system that is so obviously unsustainable that a grade school student has enough knowledge to label it foolish and ignorant.
We have collided as a species with our only home and are in the process of following through. Sustainability will become our new measuring tool but only in the sense that it dances in relation to consumption. We need to look at our planet and life a different way. Everything we need to survive and flourish is abundantly available to us as long as we work within the confines of common sense.
Life, by definition, struggles to fill every void of our natural world, there is enough to go around. Irrational consumption, waste, and lack of respect for life are the demons that form the foundation of our troubled world. We must let go of the assumption that Wal-Mart and Visa are providing us true glimpses of reality. They are not.
This unstoppable machine we call “the American way” will not abruptly stop and change course, it will break apart and fail.
We need to redefine our values and our role in the universe.
www.oneplanetonelife.com