Oceans 2001: Uncertainties and accomplishments

Sea Power, Jan 2002 by Walsh, Don

Oceanography: The Private Sector

Thanks to modern technology, previously undiscovered shipwrecks, former human dwelling sites, and vast areas of the world ocean seafloor never before seen by man, author Don Walsh points out, are now "reachable." Shown here is the view-taken at a depth of 16,000 feet-from the Mir window showing the Russian submersible s mechanical arm retrieving a bottle from the 1809 wreck during what later became known as "Operation Coconut."

It was a year shaped by the forces of several events, some predictable and some not. At the beginning, it seemed that the change of White House leadership from Democrat to Republican would assure President George W. Bush smooth sailing, with Republicans then in control of both houses of Congress.

There was disappointment in the nation's science and technology community that the new administration's first budgets proposed reductions in most areas of special interest to that community. And there were other indicators that the future might be more constricted than during the eight years of the Clinton administration. Perhaps most troubling was the extremely slow pace with which the new president appointed his most senior scientific officials, such as the presidential science advisor and the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The defection on 24 May of former Republican Sen. Jim Jeffords, who declared himself an Independent, changed the political balance. The razor-thin Republican majority in the Senate changed to a one-vote Democratic majority. Administration programs would no longer be a slam dunk on Capitol Hill.

All Senate committee chairmanships also changed, and the former (Democratic) "ranking minority members" now became chairmen. Several are oldtime friends of the oceans. Most prominent among the latter is Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.).

The replacement of Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C) by Sen. Joseph Biden Jr. (DDel.) as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee signaled an end to the almost traditional blockage of any proposal that the United States ratify the United Nations Law of the Sea Treaty, as had been urged for years by several presidents, numerous members of Congress, and a number of government agencies.

From February through early September, the Republican administration and the House of Representatives learned to work with the Democratic-- majority Senate. The mostly healthy workings of a government by consensus were in play. The budgets for science and technology moved ahead. As in past years, the national ocean programs were being treated fairly on Capitol Hill.

However, hovering in the background was a national economy that was showing serious signs of weakness. Even as Congress was approving the president's tax-reduction program, there were indications that the projected federal budget surplus might rapidly dissipate and perhaps completely disappear. By the end of the year the American people learned that the current recession had "officially" started in March 2001.

Then came the terrorist attacks of 11 September. In addition to the massive distraction caused to the normal functioning of government, there were new demands on the public purse for a wide variety of remedial actions. The president received authority to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on terrorist-related R&D (research and development) programs, but for the oceanic community there were several questions unanswered. Would some of this money come from ocean-related programs-and if so, how much and from what programs? Or, conversely, would some go into ocean-related programs-probably for port and harbor-- security research?

The shaky economy took additional hard hits, initially in the stock market. But there also were long-term economic problems caused by the terrorist attacks. The travel industry suffered major damage, to cite but one example.

How did all of this affect the national ocean program? The short answer seems to be that most government agencies with substantial ocean-related responsibilities kept up with inflation, and some obtained budget increases.

The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy: "Making the Map"

The National Ocean Policy Act, passed in the summer of 2000, ordered the new president (whoever it might be) to establish a Commission on Ocean Policy within 90 days of taking office in January 2001. That deadline was not met, however. President Bush did not make the appointments to the 16-member Commission, in fact, until mid-June. The nominations came equally from both houses of Congress and the administration; the congressional nominations were divided (though unequally) between Republicans and Democrats.

The Commission is required to review and assess all U.S. ocean and coastal activities and to identify shortcomings and weaknesses, then develop recommendations for fixing them. The Commission's report is to be submitted to the president and Congress within 18 months of the Commission's first meeting-then the Commission expires. The White House will have 120 days to review the report before forwarding it to Congress with recommendations for implementing actions.