For years, scientists have been warning that a day of reckoning is coming for the planet because of climate change. Massachusetts politicians have largely heeded those warnings, calling for tough measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but they’ve been outmaneuvered in Washington by those who question the science of climate change or argue the proposed fixes are simply too draconian.
Now those same Massachusetts politicians, confronted with shrinking fish stocks and a fishing fleet fearful for its future, are following the playbook of climate change opponents. Attorney General Martha Coakley, backed by the state’s entire political establishment, is suing the federal government, alleging sharply reduced catch limits on cod, flounder, and haddock rely on shoddy science and don’t do enough to mitigate the financial impact on the region’s fishermen.
Coakley is asking for a stay of the catch limits, which she describes as a “death sentence” for New England’s fishing fleet. The catch limits took effect earlier this month, imposing a 78 percent year-to-year cut in the cod catch and sharp reductions in flounder and haddock species as well. Coakley is vowing to take the case all the way to the US Supreme Court if necessary, the Gloucester Times reports.
Coakley claims the federal government relied on bad science in making its decision. The science admittedly isn’t perfect. One study in 2008 suggested stocks of Gulf of Maine cod were rebounding, but a subsequent study in 2011 showed severely depleted stocks.
Michael Conathan, director of ocean policy at the Center for American Progress, which bills itself as a progressive think tank, says the “best available science” is right. The Herald, labeling its story on the Coakley lawsuit a media and marketing report, quotes Peter Shelley of the Conservation Law Foundation as saying Coakley’s statements have no foundation.
John Bullard, the regional administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the former mayor of New Bedford, says the science on which the NOAA decision is based is sound and reinforced by low catches last year. In February, he said fishermen have complied with lower catch limits over the years but those have not been successful because other forces are at work, including the growth of cod predators and changes in ocean temperatures.
”While it may not be totally on the fishermen’s shoulders, it will be the fishermen who will have to pay the price,” Bullard wrote. “The day of reckoning is at hand.”
–BRUCE MOHL
BEACON HILL
John Polanowicz, the governor’s secretary of health and human services, sends a letter to state Auditor Suzanne Bump refuting some of her claims that the Department of Transitional Assistance cut welfare checks to dead people. Gov. Deval Patrick has another uncomfortable encounter with the Herald.
Lt. Gov Tim Murray talks with Emily Rooney as he gets ready to step down to take over as president of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
CASINOS
The state Gaming Commission has set a September 30 deadline for applications for a commercial casino license in the southeast region, with plans to award the license by October, 2014. New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell added his voice to casino opposition, telling a Standard-Times editorial board meeting that New Bedford would “several steps backward” if a casino was sited in the city.. Meanwhile, Mashpee Wampanoag officials say they are encouraged by proposed changes by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to change the application process for land in trust to address issues brought up by the Supreme Court.
Hopkinton officials are battling the gaming commission over documents pertaining to casino applications in eastern Massachusetts. Some residents are not pleased about the prospect of a nearby Milford casino.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
The war of words between Boston’s fire chief and his deputies escalated yesterday, with Chief Steve Abraira threatening legal action against his underlings for what his lawyer calls defamatory attacks on his management of the department.
Salem Fire Lt. John O’Leary, who allegedly pocketed thousands of dollars of fire union funds, testifies how the union raised money using All-Pro Productions, a fundraising firm headed by former pro football player Fred Smerlas, the Salem News reports.
MARATHON BOMBINGS
US Rep. William Keating, after meeting in Moscow with Russian security officials, says they believe the Marathon bombings could have been prevented had US officials acted on the warnings they provided US officials about Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s growing Islamic radicalism.
The mother of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev says he told her that he is up and walking and innocent, the Associated Press reports (via WBUR).
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
Some churches have begun to cut ties with the Boy Scouts after the national organization voted to allow gay members.
Paul Krugman goes after proposed Republican cuts to food stamps.
ELECTIONS
Planned Parenthood officials march into Republican Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez’s office and deliver a copy of the Blunt amendment, which would have allowed employers to refuse coverage of services like contraception if they have moral objections. The officials say Gomez has said he has not read the amendment, which was cosponsored by former senator Scott Brown, NECN reports.
The GOP plans another midterm push against President Obama. Mitt Romney is out of hiding and getting ready to jump into the 2014 contests as well.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
A Dutch nonprofit is accepting applications for one-way trips to Mars, scheduled to arrive on the red planet in 2023. So far, 40,000 wannabe colonists have applied.
The US is facing a Subaru shortage.
EDUCATION
Scot Lehigh says mayoral candidate John Connolly should wear the declaration by Boston teachers union president Richard Stutman that he is the one candidate that surely won’t get the union’s endorsement like the education reform seal of approval.
Larry Harmon says Boston Mayor Tom Menino’s role in the selection of the city’s next school superintendent should be precisely zero.
After 170 votes, the Greater Lowell Technical High School Committee remains deadlocked on the choice of a new superintendent, the Sun reports.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, in an op-ed in the National Review, says tuition hikes at state colleges are merely tax increases in disguise. Meanwhile, President Obama goes to bat to pressure Congress to act to prevent student loan rates from doubling next month.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Two of Gov. Deval Patrick’s former cabinet secretaries are squabbling over Cape Wind, the offshore wind farm that has been a top priority of the governor since he took office, CommonWealth reports.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
A Brockton man who told police after an angry rampage that he wanted to kill “non-whites” after his advances on a Cape Verdean woman were rejected was convicted of two counts of murder, including the woman who spurned him. Keller@Large says the convicted killer, Keith Luke, is a good example of why the death penalty should be reinstated.
A former office manager for the Patriot Ledger failed to show up in court after she was charged with embezzling nearly $280,000 in circulation receipts.
MEDIA
The Chicago Sun-Times is laying off its entire 28-member photo staff and plans to use freelancers and reporters to take photos going forward, the Chicago Tribune reports.
The witness list of those who may be called to testify by Whitey Bulger’s defense team includes several current and former Globe reporters, Bulger’s longtime Herald nemesis Howie Carr, former governor Bill Weld, and US District Court Judge Richard Stearns, who was initially slated to preside over the trial.