Ocean Zone News Blog

Lubchenco Names Kennedy Permanent NOS Chief

David Kennedy has been named NOAA assistant administrator for the National Ocean Service effective immediately. He has served in an acting capacity since January 2010 when John Dunnigan was named a senior policy advisor to the NOAA administrator.  The announcement was made today by under secretary of commerce and NOAA administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco.

“David has served both NOAA and the nation exceptionally well in his NOAA career, and in particular over the past nine months as the overall NOAA response coordinator for the  BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill response,” said Lubchenco. “His overall experience, coupled with a leadership approach that promotes teamwork to effectively deal with issues are important attributes as we face tremendous challenges in the ocean and coastal environment.  I am delighted he has agreed to fill this important position.”

The challenges facing oil companies looking to drill in the Beaufort, Chukchi seas got more complicated in the past year

Eric Lidji

For Petroleum News

The state of offshore drilling in Alaska’s Arctic can be summed up in one word: uncertain.

It’s uncertain if the U.S. government will allow oil companies to drill exploration wells in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, located off the northern and northwestern coasts of Alaska, respectively. If that drilling does go forward, it’s uncertain if it will yield discoveries large enough to justify the high cost of Arctic development. Should that drilling go wrong, it is uncertain if the response systems in place will work as intended.

From: Penn Energy

HOUSTON, Jan. 12 — The report by a presidential commission studying last year’s Macondo well disaster in the Gulf of Mexico calls for overhaul both of the oil and gas industry’s safety culture and of offshore regulation.

Published Jan. 11, the report to President Barack Obama from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling faults regulations in place when the Macondo well blew out on Apr. 20, destroying the Transocean Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible drilling rig and killing 11 workers. It also excoriates the industry.

(SitNews) Fairbanks, Alaska – In a speech before hundreds attending the Rotary Club of Fairbanks, Governor Sean Parnell today focused on how recent federal restrictions have crippled resource development and blocked jobs for Alaskans. From the offshore drilling moratorium, to ocean zoning, to the effort to lock up the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, the governor outlined numerous ways Washington is encroaching on Alaska’s sovereignty in developing its natural resources.

“What the federal government owns, it regulates. And, what it doesn’t own, it seeks to control – by regulatory mandate,” Governor Parnell said. “For our economy, it’s death by a thousand cuts.”

From: Homer Tribune

By Laine Welch
Alaska’s seafood industry worked hard this year to ramp up its message to policy makers, especially those from rail belt regions who tend to overlook the industry’s economic significance.

How important is the seafood industry to Alaska and the nation? At a glance:   62 percent of all U.S. seafood landings come from Alaska … 96 percent of all wild- caught salmon come from Alaska …  Seafood is by far Alaska’s #1 export, valued at nearly $2 billion (next in line:  zinc and lead at $785 million) … Alaska ranks 9th  in the world in terms of global seafood production.