Bush administration declares war on whales

by Mark J. Palmer

Earth Island Journal, Summer 2003

IMMP and Seaflow, Protect Our Living Oceans, have denounced a new effort in Congress by the Navy and the Bush administration to seriously weaken the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) supposedly for "national defense." The MMPA protects whales and other marine mammals from harm, but the Bush administration is hiding extensive Navy exemptions from the law in the unrelated National Defense Authorization Act.

"The proposed Bush administration 2004 Defense Authorization Bill is the most egregious assault in history on the integrity of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the world's whales, dolphins and seals it protects," says Mark J. Palmer, assistant director of IMMP

Michael Stocker, bioacoustician and member of Seaflow's board of directors, comments: "While the legislation has direct effects on marine mammals, the resulting Navy actions will also result in severe harm to fisheries, other marine life, and marine ecosystems. If Congress goes along with this proposal, Navy activities, including use of underwater explosives, loud active sonars, and other actions that harm marine life will no longer be restricted to protect the environment. "

The Navy proposes to gut the MMPA in four principal ways:

The proposed bill would weaken the definition of "harassment" of marine mammals in the MMPA;

The bill proposes a process for exempting actions of the Navy for "military training." This "alternative track" for approving Navy training with Low Frequency Active (LFA) Sonar and other active sonars, as well as bombing practice and use of underwater explosives, will exempt the Navy against active enforcement of current MMPA restrictions for protection of marine mammals all over the Earth;

The proposed bill further allows the Secretary of Defense to grant the Navy exemptions for any activity with a "defense purpose" from provisions of the MMPA, and;

The proposed amendments would further eliminate current MMPA permit restrictions that limit take (any harassment, killing, injuring, etc.) of marine mammals to small numbers and limited geographic areas, issues that are the subject of current environmental lawsuits against the Navy's active sonar program, including the controversial LFA Sonar.

The legislation is on a fast track in Congress. The National Defense Authorization Bill is intended to set budget levels for the Department of Defense in the coming fiscal year. But the Bush administration is trying to hijack this must-pass measure by placing anti-environmental riders, including attacks on the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act, as well as the MMPA.

A similar effort in 2002 was defeated in Congress, but the Pentagon is banking on public fears about war and terrorism, along with a Republican majority in Congress, to gut environmental laws. The result, environmentalists contend, will be a global war on whales and other sensitive species that require protection.

"We strongly believe that our national security is dependent on healthy oceans to support us," notes Palmer. "The military and the Bush administration are throwing away the future health of our oceans in search of minor convenience today."

"If the Department of Defense is successful in gaining exemptions to environmental laws," says Stocker, "we can be sure that industry groups and polluters will be asking Congress to exempt them as well. This is a zero-sum game that threatens 30 years of environmental progress in America."

"Congress must stand up to the Bush administration's war on whales,' concludes Palmer. "We cannot allow the Pentagon to use fear to stampede a wholesale repeal of the environmental laws that protect whales, dolphins, and seals."

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