Environmentalists, conservationists and citizens have welcomed the Five State Governors Ocean Summit and called on the governors to keep the oceans wild and free from harmful industries such as fossil fuels, ocean dumping of toxic materials, and focus on improving ocean health. These groups have made special request to NJ Governor Jon Corzine and NY Governor David Paterson to reject now the current proposals for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) off the shared coasts.
For the first time, five Governors from NY, NJ, DE, MD, and VA are convening to create a regional forum for coastal and ocean Mid-Atlantic regional planning. On March 6, 2009, the Governors wrote Chairwoman Nancy Sutley of the national Council on Environmental Quality to inform her “of an effort to develop an interstate agreement on ocean and coastal management in the Mid-Atlantic region.”
It is noted that the governors are planning to engage in a robust public process and ask that the federal government designate a lead, or co-leads, to provide direct support. It is told that the Mid-Atlantic will be the first region to commit to a regional approach to ocean management during President Obama’s Administration. It is said that after long time the Mid-Atlantic is stepping up and thinking about its shared marine waters.
Cindy Zipf, Executive Director of Clean Ocean Action (COA), opined that they have a plan ready, called the Clean Ocean Zone, a law that will keep improving our clean ocean ecology and the extraordinary thriving economies that depend on it and keep the polluters, such as LNG and oil drilling out. The mid-Atlantic governors say they want to collaborate on water quality, energy policy, climate change, and conservation of marine habitat.
