Offshore Energy Industry Applauds Joint Ocean Commission Initiative Report Card

For Immediate Release                                                                                                         

February 27, 2008                                                                                                                  

 

Contact:

Michael Kearns

(202) 347-6900

 

Offshore Energy Industry Applauds Joint OceanCommission Initiative Report Card

February 27, 2008 (Washington, D.C.) – The National Ocean Industries Association today offered its congratulations to the members of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative for their efforts to keep attention on the critical issues of ocean policy in the United States.

 

The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative released its annual U.S. Ocean Policy Report Card, praising state and regional initiatives while criticizing the lack of significant progress at the federal level to commit adequate funding and affect meaningful ocean policy reform. While the nation’s overall grade inched up to a C from a C‐ average in 2006, the report card challenges our nation’s leaders to implement and fund policies that will ensure the longterm health and vitality of our oceans and our coastal communities.

 

Tom Fry, NOIA President, commented that, “Since the 2004 release of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy’s final report, NOIA has been on record supporting the principles of better coordinated ocean policy and the need for U.S.leadership internationally.”

 

“Several NOIA members have been involved in regional ocean governance efforts in the Gulf of Mexico; NOIA’s Board of Directors passed a resolution in support of calls for the United States to accede to the Law of the Sea Convention; and NOIA has worked closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as it develops the Integrated Ocean Observing System,” said Fry, noting specific areas of interest to his Association’s member companies.

 

“The oceans are a vital economic, energy and environmental resource for the nation, and deserve a well-crafted, coordinated management regime that recognizes all these aspects. By issuing this annual report card,” Fry concluded, “the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative has been effective in keeping the attention of policymakers on the scope and interdependence of the challenges facing them.”

 

###

 

The National OceanIndustries Association is the only national trade association representing all segments of the offshore industry with an interest in the exploration and production of resources on the nation’s Outer Continental Shelf in an environmentally responsible manner. The NOIA membership comprises more than 300 companies engaged in numerous business activities ranging from producing to drilling, engineering to marine and air transport, offshore construction to equipment manufacture and supply, telecommunications to finance and insurance.

 

 

 

 

National Ocean Industries Association
1120 G Street, NW • Suite 900
Washington, DC 20005

Phone: 202.347.6900 | Email: media@nullnoia.org