NOAA's Lubchenco on Gulf Seafood

Thad Allen's Oil Spill Update June 8 Video

Obama's Next Problem: Hurricanes

Obama briefed on hurricanes

Obama will soon have one more problem to contend with: Hurricanes. Obama needs to start walking on water--NOW.
Economy, terrorists, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, floods, tornadoes, oil spills. Did I miss anything? What a mess. I'm sorry, but I truly think people are wrong in about the Obama administration's response to the oil disaster. There is no doubt that oil companies have corrupted government. But that didn't just happen during the Obama administration. That's been a long time coming. The big lesson here is business without proper oversight will succumb to greed every time. Every government agency could probably use an overhaul, because the next disaster is looming.

I've just about had it with the republicans. Exactly what will it take for them to actually do something?

I hear people saying why didn't BP try "top kill" sooner? It's because BP has been engineering top kill since the beginning of the disaster and it took that long to get it right. It's a horrible thing that happened. People are angry. But they don't have the facts.

The Obama administration is getting slammed by the media. Once the media buys into a narrative, they all follow each other, and then they're all over a story until it makes you nuts. Their coverage only encourages people to be defensive. MSNBC's biggest hack has a story about Obama being too cool. I will never understand that criticism.

The media holds up James Carville as an example that even democrats are angry. Carville isn't a democrat. He's a Clinton democrat. I've rarely ever heard him have a good word to say about Obama. He's a political machine. He's also really annoying. For me, he's up there with Sarah Palin, Dylan Ratigan and Keith Olbermann. Ick.

Statement by the Press Secretary on the President's Hurricane Preparedness Briefing

“President Obama was briefed by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco and National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read, as well as five FEMA Regional Administrators adding their local prospective, on the outlook for hurricane season and the Federal government’s efforts to prepare all Federal partners, state and local governments, the private sector and the public for hurricanes and other emergencies.

Early today, NOAA announced it expects an “active to extremely active” hurricane season this year.

Under the President’s direction, the entire Federal family is working together to ensure not only that the Federal government is doing everything to prepare for the coming season, but that the public knows of the critical role they have in making sure they are prepared for storms and other emergencies, to include having up-to-date evacuation plans.

The President stressed that the government must ensure we consider the effects the BP oil spill could have on storms, response capabilities, and recovery efforts in planning for this year’s season but that those considerations do not change the primary mission of emergency management officials during a response, which is to support state efforts to protect lives and property.

In addition, the President urged that Secretary Napolitano and Administrator Fugate continue to be in close contact with Governors, congressional delegations, and emergency managers in hurricane-prone states to ensure they have all the tools and resources needed to prepare for, respond to, and recover from any potential hurricanes.”

For a White House blog post by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate on hurricane preparedness, please click HERE

Below is a list of attendees at today’s meeting:
Vice President Joe Biden
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate
NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco
National Hurricane Center Director Bill Read
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan
Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner
Domestic Policy Director Melody Barnes
OMB Director Peter Orzag
Deputy FEMA Administrator Rich Serino
FEMA Associate Administrator for Response and Recovery Bill Carwile
NOAA Director of Marine and Aviation Operations Center Rear Admiral Philip Kenul
Five FEMA Regional Administrators

Obama Meets With Cabinet on Oil Spill

Statement from Robert Gibbs on the meeting:

The Deepwater Horizon explosion and BP oil spill presents us with challenges on a number of fronts – from capping the flow at the well head and containing the spill on the ocean’s surface, to controlling the impact of the oil on the coastal shoreline and on the precious wetlands and fisheries in the area. President Obama remains committed to bringing any and all available resources to the Gulf of Mexico. Earlier today the President met with a number of Cabinet members and senior staff in the White House Situation Room to review BP’s efforts to stop the oil leak as well as to decide on next steps to ensure all is being done to contain the spread, mitigate the environmental impact and provide assistance to affected states, including individuals, businesses, and communities.

As we continue to evaluate different options to stop the flow of oil, the President impressed upon his team two things in the meeting today: first, the importance of engaging independent experts in the fields of science and technology; and, second, bringing every perspective to the table to identify potential solutions.

The President was pleased to hear that some of Energy Secretary Chu’s ideas have helped us better understand the dimensions of this serious problem and he asked Secretary Chu to lead a team of top administration officials and government scientists to Houston this week for an extensive dialogue with BP officials to continue to aggressively pursue potential solutions. Throughout the week, the President will continue to dispatch additional Cabinet officials to the region. As the President has made clear before, BP will be paying for all costs of stopping the spill and cleaning it up, and we will aggressively pursue full compensation for damages.

In addition, to deal more generally with the harms created by oil spills, the President has requested that we send legislation to Congress to toughen and update the law surrounding caps on damages.


The principals participating in the meeting included:

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano
United States Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen (National Incident Commander for this event)
Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen
Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel
Assistant to the President for Homeland Security John Brennan
National Security Advisor General Jim Jones
EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe (Administrator Jackson is currently in Louisiana)
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco
Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli
Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner
OMB Director Peter Orszag
Assistant to the President for Science and Technology John Holdren
DPC Chair Melody Barnes
CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley
Assistant to the President for Cabinet Affairs Chris Lu

No oil on Mississippi beaches but no beachgoers:

Obama's Science Team's Ambitions

Check out Obama's science team here.

Science News:
The research community appears optimistic that the new president will follow through with as much as Congress allows. Many experts say they are impressed with the cadre of politically astute science and biomedical advisers that President Obama has already mustered to work for his White House and with Congress.

No surprise to anyone, “The real problem is going to be the economy,” observes physicist Leon Lederman, a Nobel laureate and former director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill.

Federal funding for science has been eroding over the past eight years, Lederman says. Meanwhile, the nation is in a recession, continues to direct huge sums of money into overseas wars and the importation of oil, faces an expected $1.2 trillion budget deficit this year, and strains under a national debt exceeding $10.6 trillion.

Against that backdrop, Lederman believes that reversing federal funding trends in science and engineering will prove a challenge. However, he adds, based on conversations with his former senator, Obama, “I’m convinced that he has an unusual grasp of science. Not that he can write down a differential equation. But Obama understands science in a deep way and reveals it by commenting on the beauty of new discoveries.

“To me, he deserves three checks for clearly understanding the power of science.”

And that, Lederman argues, is why Obama’s inauguration brought him a genuine sense of hope: “It feels like the marines are arriving — and just in time, hopefully.”

Health | A shot in the arm

The first wave of those marines has been dropping from the skies in what have been termed “parachute teams.” Beginning immediately after election day, the Obama transition advisers dispatched small groups to study federal agencies — through interviews with staff and talks with outsiders who monitor federal activities. The goal: to investigate not only what Uncle Sam has been charged with doing but also what major obstacles exist to carrying out those charges.

Some parachutists dropped in on Mary Woolley and her colleagues at Research!America. Woolley’s team, based in Alexandria, Va., has been documenting declining federal investment in biomedical and health research, and the impacts of that decline. She offered Obama’s team the following assessment of the big picture:

With an estimated one-in-six Americans lacking health insurance, a key campaign issue in 2008 was how to help people qualify for affordable insurance even if they’d lost their jobs.

Medical costs have continued to spiral upward while nearly every other economic indicator has fallen. Crucial to reining in costs will be smarter use of health resources — be they physician access, medicines, diagnostic procedures or patient data, Woolley explains. The health care industry would work more efficiently now if it knew how to, she contends. Read the rest. 

Obama Pick Jane Lubchenco Loves the Planet

Dr. Jane Lubchenco, an environmental scientist and marine ecologist, grew up in Colorado, taught at Harvard University, and now teaches marine biology and zoology at Oregon State University. She's Obama's pick to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
She's another good pick for the environment:

WaPo: Lubchenco, a conservationist who has devoted much of her career to encouraging scientists to become more engaged in public policy debates, is also a vocal proponent of curbing greenhouse gases linked to global warming. The transition team could not be reached for comment, but several sources confirmed today that Lubchenco had been picked and was headed to Chicago for the upcoming announcement.

The appointment marks a shift for NOAA, which oversees marine issues as well as much of government's climate work. Lubchenco has criticized the agency in the past for not doing enough to curb overfishing.

Lubchenco's bio in Mother Jones.
Ocean advocacy organizations are excited:

Oceana: Why is this such big news? Well, NOAA is the agency essentially in charge of marine issues. And Lubchenco is a conservationist who has focused much of her research on climate change and protecting ocean ecosystems. Needless to say, Oceana is applauding the appointment.
Oceana CEO Andy Sharpless had this to say: “The oceans desperately need a strong leader who will protect their long term vitality. We’re confident that as a distinguished marine scientist, Dr. Jane Lubchenco knows the urgency of the task and we congratulate her on this appointment. Time is short and she’s ready to start restoring ocean abundance on day one. We and all the fish in the sea are cheering her selection."

In this story by Lubchenco, she warns of an ecological tsunami:

It is time to move beyond the outdated assumptions that the oceans have unlimited potential to provide food and assimilate wastes, beyond the myopic focus on short-term economic gains, beyond the primary preoccupation with the goods obtained from marine ecosystems, and beyond the indifferent acceptance of ignorance about oceanic patterns and processes. It is time to think more holistically about ocean ecosystems, and to consider more responsible ways in which humans can minimize their impact on the very systems that provide for our well-being. It is time to take better stock of our treasures before they are swept away in an ecological tsunami of unprecedented proportions.

A Q&A with Lubchenco.
Lubchenco talking about science:

Obama's Science Head John Holdren On Global Disruption

The pick of John Holdren says Obama's serious about countering global warming or as Holdren calls it, global disruption. See video below.
See the video announcement of Obama's entire science and tech team here.
John Holdren: Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Holdren will also serve as a Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology—or PCAST.

Jane Lubchenco: Administrator of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Dr. Harold Varmus: Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology—or PCAST

Dr. Eric Lander: Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology—or PCAST

John Holdren currently is director, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program at the Harvard Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy, and director of the Woods Hole Research Center. Here is his CV. His many publications show that like Obama, he has a holistic view of government.

Science mag: Holdren is well known for his work on energy, climate change, and nuclear proliferation. Trained in fluid dynamics and plasma physics, Holdren branched out into policy early in his career. He has led the Woods Hole Research Center for the past 3 years and served as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (which publishes ScienceInsider) in 2006.

Holdren talking about why science and technology matter:

Holdren prefers "global disruption" to "global warming." He says global warming infers temperature but what's happening is more than temperature warming.
Global disruption accounts for all the wildfires, droughts, expanding range of malaria.