One of the Sea Dream ships left Ensonada Honda Sat., Dec 17th, 2011, but did not head directly to the USFWS Refuge Cay Saturday night.  We are not sure where it anchored over-night.

One of the vessels was reported anchored at the refuge cay on Sun., Dec 18th, 2011.  Based on yesterday’s report, it appears that despite the public out-cry, USFWS continues to issue federal permits for the Sea Dream Cruise Ships to disembark passengers on the public National Wildlife Refuge Cay of Culebrita.    There is no mooring or pier at the cay – only Critical Habitat listed sea grasses and corals.

Sea Dream markets the Culebrita stop as “off the beaten path” tourism – as this unsustainable brand of tourism beats Culebra’s corals and sea grasses to death.

The ships obviously cannot control wind direction and swing.  When not directly anchoring atop corals and sea grass, easterly and south eastery winds swing the boat so the stern faces the reef. As their huge propellors engage to make way –  sand and debris known as “prop wash” sand blast what’s left of these Culebrita corals.    The Sea Dream disembarks passengers to the cay off speeding zodiacs, and provides wave runners to passengers which disturb and threaten the Caribbeans few remaining sea turtles and manatees.  Photos of corals damaged as anchor passed over them were submitted to NOAA.  Like with the mud impacting the reefs of Flamenco Beach – the NOAA Restoration Center made a site visit but took no action.

But wait – there’s more….

Sea Dream captains are environmentally reckless throughout the Caribbean.  On Culebrita we have reported the Sea Dream vessels to the U.S. Coast Guard for reckless endangerment of their passengers as they anchor these vessels in waters marked on nautical charts as

“Danger: Area Littered with Unexploded Ordinance.”  (bombs)

Above you can see what the Sea Dream Yachts (both I and II) are doing

as they shore anchor on the beach at beautiful Prickly Pear Beach in the BVIs.

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NOTICIAS – NEWS PLAYA FLAMENCO     Primera Hora, lunes, 5 de diciembre de 2011 Siguen los daños ambientales en playa Flamenco                         (Online Google Translation)                                         Follow the Environmental Damage on Flamenco Beach     Primera Hora, jueves, 8 de diciembre de 2011 DRNA investigarla supuesto movimiento ilegal de terreno en Culebra                          English (Online Google Translation)                                          DNER investigate alleged illegal movement of land on Culebra     CONTACT INFORMATION:    Edwin Muñiz, Field Supervisor United States Fish and Wildlife Service Boqueron Field Office P.O. Box 491, Boquerón, Puerto Rico 00622 Jack Arnold Deputy Assistant Regional Director United States Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Office 1975 Century Boulevard, Suite 400 Atlanta, Georgia 30345-3319 Lisamarie Carrubba National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Protected Resources Caribbean Field Office Cabo Rojo, PR 00622   Erik Hawk National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Protected Resources Southeast Regional Office St. Petersburg, FL 33701   Carl Soderberg, Director U.S. EPA Region II Caribbean Environmental Protection Division Edif Centro Europa Apt 417 1492 Avenida Ponce de Leon San Juan PR 00907-4127   Judith Enck Regional Administrator U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA Region 2 290 Broadway New York, NY 10007-1866

On September 20, 2011, on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly, the President announced the U.S. Open Government National Action Plan.  The Plan was developed through a process that involved extensive consultations with external stakeholders, including a broad range of civil society groups and members of the private sector, to gather ideas on open government.  As we continue our work to implement the National Action Plan, we want your help.  Specifically, we’d like your input and recommendations on how to improve and help facilitate public participation – your participation – in government.

The United States committed to undertake 26 Open Government initiatives in the National Action Plan, and we are working to implement each of them now.  For example, the White House recently announced that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will be the senior U.S. official to lead implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, an effort to ensure that taxpayers receive every dollar due for extraction of our natural resources.  A major milestone was also reached in the development of an open government platform that will enable governments around the world to stand up their own open government data sites. And just last week, the President fulfilled a commitment made in the National Action Plan to begin a government-wide effort to reform and modernize records management policies and practices.

We are now requesting your assistance with one of the initiatives in the U.S. National Action Plan designed to promote public participation:

Develop Best Practices and Metrics for Public Participation. We will identify best practices for public participation in government and suggest metrics that will allow agencies to assess progress toward the goal of becoming more participatory. This effort will highlight those agencies that have incorporated the most useful and robust forms of public participation in order to encourage other agencies to learn from their examples.”

Given the focus of this initiative, we thought it would be most appropriate to invite you to provide input and ideas on best practices and metrics for public participation, including but not limited to suggestions and recommendations that address the following questions:

·         What are the appropriate measures for tracking and evaluating participation efforts in agency Open Government Plans?

·         What should be the minimum standard of good participation?

·         How should participation activities be compared across agencies with different programs, amounts of regulatory activity, budgets, staff sizes, etc.?

·         What are the most effective forms of technology and web tools to encourage public participation, engage with the private sector/non-profit and academic communities, and provide the public with greater and more meaningful opportunities to influence agencies’ plans?

·         What are possible mechanisms for agencies to increase the level of diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds brought to bear in their activities and decisions?

·         What are the most effective strategies for ensuring that participation is well-informed?

·         What are some examples of success stories involving strong public participation, as well as less-than-successful efforts, and what lessons can be drawn from them?

Please send your thoughts to us at opengov@ostp.gov or use the web form provided, by January 3, 2012.  We will consider your ideas and input as we continue to implement the U.S. National Action Plan and develop this best practices guidance on public participation.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

CONTACT: Center for Biological Diversity

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2011/11/16-11

 

I post this story here in Reef News because the effects of ocean acidification are destroying coral reefs.  It is one of the effects of global climate change that can be diminished through greater reductions in fuel emissions.  DeeVon

WASHINGTON – November 16 – The Obama administration proposed new vehicle fuel-emission standards today that fall far short of what is needed to make significant reductions in greenhouse gas pollution — and also short of what is achievable. The standards announced today, for tailpipe emissions and gas mileage for passenger vehicles and light trucks in 2025, are below the European Union’s proposed standards for 2020. Gas mileage would reach a maximum of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025; the Center for Biological Diversity advocated for standards exceeding 60 miles per gallon.

“While we applaud progress, these weak standards simply don’t reflect the urgency of the climate crisis,” said Vera Pardee, an attorney at the Center’s Climate Law Institute. “The United States has long had some of the weakest fuel-economy standards in the industrialized world, and today’s announcement does little to change that.”

Earlier this month, a sobering report from the highly respected International Energy Agency warned that the door is closing on our ability to avert the worst impacts of climate change. The IEA concluded that “[t]here are few signs that the urgently needed change in direction in global energy trends is underway.” Today’s announcement does little to improve the status quo.

Current laws require the government to set fuel-efficiency standards at the “maximum feasible” level and are designed to spur technological innovation by requiring that standards be set beyond what is achievable today. Despite these requirements, the administration’s rulemaking, driven by negotiations with the industry being regulated, would lock the nation into an inadequate pace of progress for the next 14 years.

The transportation sector accounts for about a third of total U.S. greenhouse emissions — and passenger vehicles account for about two-thirds of transportation emissions, spewing nearly 1.2 billion metric tons of “carbon dioxide equivalent” emissions each year. Technologies are available today to make significant reductions, including more efficient and less-polluting engines and transmissions, strong but lightweight materials, improved aerodynamics, and hybrid and electric vehicles.

“Setting fuel-economy standards for 14 years from now that are lower than what we can achieve with technology on the road today is not the kind of progress we urgently need,” said Pardee.

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