Posted on Coastal Conservation Listserve (Conserve Coast)
@ http://www.topica.com/lists/coastalzone

6/13/2001

As students in my Coastal Zone Policy course are quickly finding out, a change in administration in Washington CAN indeed make a difference in the thrust and emphasis of U.S. Coastal Policy. (For a glimpse at the course and case studies see http://www.public.iastate.edu/~sws/ click on Coastal Policy.)

The Clinton administration had made it a major emphasis to help develop and create such new ocean reserves and environmental spaces as the Key West/Dry Tortugas and Hawaiian reef areas - major new initiatives to preserve marine bio-systems. The Bush administration has felt that it had a (albeit weak) mandate from voters to minimize environmental concerns. The plan to open ANWR (in Alaska) and Florida off-shore zones for oil drilling are the two most prominent examples of a new "mood" towards coastal ecosystems in the White House. A "go slow" approach for implementing the Dry Tortugas ban on fishing and other set asides in that areas of South Florida is another.

YET, we are discovering (and Pres. Bush is finding this our as well) that U.S. public opinion is quite supportive of environmental initiatives and not at all happy with the lack of environmental emphasis of the Bush govt. It is one of his weakest public approval areas. As a result, there has already been a significant back-pedaling on the new, less "green" approach to public policy on the part of Christine Todd Whitman and the President himself.

The lesson? For those of us working on coastal zone issues and policy areas it should be heartening that the American public (and especially Voting Americans) appreciate and support responsible, sustainable, and "green" stewardship of the coastal and marine areas. This is also a signal that strong public education and public relations on behalf of our seashores, reefs, coastal parks, and other ocean areas is important and productive. It should be an integral part of our research and active work to develop citizen participation and build strong, grass-roots civic institutions ("civil society assets" in the current global lingo)to help better guide local, state, and national leaders as they contemplate coastal zone policy initiatives.

Steffen Schmidt, Ph.D. Prof. of Political Science (Iowa State) and Coastal Policy (Nova University)