The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Monday announced it had entered into an agreement with four south-eastern coastal states to “better manage and protect ocean and coastal resources, ensure regional economic sustainability, and respond to disasters such as hurricanes.” The group, known as the Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance seeks to allow the states to work cooperatively on projects that affect the entire south-eastern coast.
The official announcement of the partnership stated that alliance members North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida will leverage both public and private resources to help keep the region’s coasts and oceans clean, and productive both from a biological and economic perspective. Recognizing that the condition of the coasts plays a major role in the amount of damage that can occur as a result of hurricanes and other coastal storms, the alliance will also aim to protect people and property from storm damage pro-actively.
The beaches, commercial fishing, shipping, recreational boating, whale watches, and the rich biodiversity of the coastal oceans play a large part in the economic vitality of each the these states, and many of the issues facing them cannot be effectively addressed on a piece-meal basis by local organizations or even by a single state. The Governors’ South Atlantic Alliance hopes to be able to marshal and apply resources over a sufficiently broad area to make a significant impact in the health and vitality of the Atlantic coast.
NOAA will also apply its efforts toward helping the alliance set and achieve specific goals. ““NOAA is uniquely positioned to help the South Atlantic states address region-specific priorities through the Alliance,” said Dr. Jane Lubchenco, undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.
Environmentalists and those with economic interests in the coasts both have reason to welcome the additional focus on the oceans. The difficult part for the new alliance will be to balance its priorities to serve both interests. NOAA’s involvement and the geographical size of the alliance should help to blunt the focus on smaller local interests that may run counter to broader regional interests.
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The Maritime Headlines Examiner is also the Manchester Bird Watching Examiner.
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