The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with forecasting weather,monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions,charting the seas,conducting deep-sea exploration,and managing fishing and protection of marine mammals and endangered species in the US exclusive economic zone. The agency is part of the United States Department of Commerce and is headquartered in Silver Spring,Maryland.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9,1970;it began operation on December 2,1970,after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate.
Samuel Knox Skinner is an American politician,lawyer,and businessman. Skinner served as U.S. Secretary of Transportation and White House Chief of Staff under President George H. W. Bush. Prior to the Bush administration,Skinner served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois under President Gerald R. Ford from 1975 to 1977,succeeding James R. Thompson.
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is a division of the Executive Office of the President that coordinates federal environmental efforts in the United States and works closely with agencies and other White House offices on the development of environmental and energy policies and initiatives.
James David Watkins was a United States Navy admiral and former Chief of Naval Operations who served as the United States Secretary of Energy during the George H. W. Bush administration,also chairing U.S. government commissions on HIV/AIDS and ocean policy. Watkins also served on the boards of various companies and other nongovernmental organizations and as the co-chair of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative.
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). OAR is also referred to as NOAA Research.
William Kane Reilly is an American politician. He has previously served as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H. W. Bush. He has served as president of World Wildlife Fund,as a founder or advisor to several business ventures,and on many boards of directors. In 2010,he was appointed by President Barack Obama co-chair of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling to investigate the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) was the program responsible for coordinating and integrating research on global warming by U.S. government agencies from February 2002 to June 2009. Toward the end of that period,CCSP issued 21 separate climate assessment reports that addressed climate observations,changes in the atmosphere,expected climate change,impacts and adaptation,and risk management issues. Shortly after President Obama took office,the program's name was changed to U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) which was also the program's name before 2002. Nevertheless,the Obama Administration generally embraced the CCSP products as sound science providing a basis for climate policy. Because those reports were mostly issued after the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),and in some cases focused specifically on the United States,they were generally viewed within the United States as having an importance and scientific credibility comparable to the IPCC assessments for the first few years of the Obama Administration.
Jane Lubchenco is an American environmental scientist and marine ecologist who teaches and conducts research at Oregon State University. Her research interests include interactions between the environment and human well-being,biodiversity,climate change,and sustainable use of oceans and the planet. From 2009 to 2013,she served as Administrator of NOAA and Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. In February 2021,she was appointed by President Joe Biden to serve as deputy director for Climate and Environment in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Oceana,inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit ocean conservation organization focused on influencing specific policy decisions on the national level to preserve and restore the world's oceans. It is headquartered in Washington,D.C.,with offices in Juneau,Monterey,Fort Lauderdale,New York,Portland,Toronto,Mexico City,Madrid,Brussels,Copenhagen,Geneva,London,Manila,Belmopan,Brasilia,Santiago,and Lima,and it is the largest international advocacy group dedicated entirely to ocean conservation.
The environment of the United States comprises diverse biotas,climates,and geologies. This diversity leads to a number of different distinct regions and geographies in which human communities live. This includes a rich variety of species of animals,fungi,plants and other organisms.
The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative is a bipartisan,collaborative group in the United States that aims to "accelerate the pace of change that results in meaningful ocean policy reform." The Joint Initiative was established by the members of two major U.S.-based oceans commissions:the Pew Oceans Commission and the United States Commission on Ocean Policy. It was originally co-chaired by former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta and former Chief of Naval Operations Admiral James D. Watkins,chairs of the Pew and U.S. Ocean Commissions,respectively. Currently,the Joint Initiative is led by a Leadership Council,which is co-chaired by Christine Todd Whitman,former EPA Administrator under President George W. Bush and former governor of New Jersey,and Norman Y. Mineta,Secretary of Commerce under President Bill Clinton and Secretary of Transportation under President George W. Bush.
Environmental issues in the United States include climate change,energy,species conservation,invasive species,deforestation,mining,nuclear accidents,pesticides,pollution,waste and over-population. Despite taking hundreds of measures,the rate of environmental issues is increasing rapidly instead of reducing. The United States is among the most significant emitters of greenhouse gasses in the world. In terms of both total and per capita emissions,it is among the largest contributors. The climate policy of the United States has a major influence on the world.
The environmental policy of the United States is a federal governmental action to regulate activities that have an environmental impact in the United States. The goal of environmental policy is to protect the environment for future generations while interfering as little as possible with the efficiency of commerce or the liberty of the people and to limit inequity in who is burdened with environmental costs. Framing of environmental issues often influences how policies are developed,especially when economic concerns or national security are used to either justify or contest actions. As his first official act bringing in the 1970s,President Richard Nixon signed the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) into law on New Year's Day,1970. Also in the same year,America began celebrating Earth Day,which has been called "the big bang of U.S. environmental politics,launching the country on a sweeping social learning curve about ecological management never before experienced or attempted in any other nation." NEPA established a comprehensive US national environmental policy and created the requirement to prepare an environmental impact statement for "major federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the environment." Author and consultant Charles H. Eccleston has called NEPA the world's "environmental Magna Carta".
Brian C. Griffin is an American businessman from Oklahoma who currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Clean Energy Systems,a private Rancho Cordova,California-based energy technology innovations firm.
The Arctic policy of the United States is the foreign policy of the United States in regard to the Arctic region. In addition,the United States' domestic policy toward Alaska is part of its Arctic policy.
The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) is the latest generation of U.S. polar-orbiting,non-geosynchronous,environmental satellites. JPSS will provide the global environmental data used in numerical weather prediction models for forecasts,and scientific data used for climate monitoring. JPSS will aid in fulfilling the mission of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),an agency of the Department of Commerce. Data and imagery obtained from the JPSS will increase timeliness and accuracy of public warnings and forecasts of climate and weather events,thus reducing the potential loss of human life and property and advancing the national economy. The JPSS is developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),who is responsible for operation of JPSS. Three to five satellites are planned for the JPSS constellation of satellites. JPSS satellites will be flown,and the scientific data from JPSS will be processed,by the JPSS –Common Ground System (JPSS-CGS).
The climate change policy of the United States under the presidency of George W. Bush differed from Bush's promises on the campaign trail to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from power plants:within two months of taking office he walked away from his commitment. One of the most notable policies during his administration is his opposition to the Kyoto Protocol.
The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) is a U.S. government agency that manages one of the world's largest archives of atmospheric,coastal,geophysical,and oceanic data. The current director is Deke Arndt.
The marine policy of the Barack Obama administration comprises several significant environmental policy decisions for the oceans made during his two terms in office from 2009 to 2017. By executive action,US President Barack Obama increased fourfold the amount of protected marine space in waters under United States control,setting a major precedent for global ocean conservation. Using the U.S. president's authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906,he expanded to 200 nautical miles the seaward limits of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument around the U.S. island possessions in the Central Pacific. In the Atlantic,Obama created the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument,the first marine monument in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Atlantic.
