For the record:
Former WA Gov. Locke has been a reliable friend of the endangered Southern resident orcas. On May 5, 2003, the USS Shoup was training with mid-frequency active sonars in Haro Strait, north of Puget Sound, where 23 members of J pod were foraging. The whales were videotaped as they bunched up near the shore and seemed very agitated, and at least 7 porpoises washed up dead days later. In June, 2003 then-Gov. Locke wrote a letter to the acting secretary of the Navy requesting a report on the incident and an explanation of the mitigation measures to prevent it from happening again. He wrote: "The actual or potential impact of sonar use on Puget Sound marine mammals is a concern."
Ten years ago Gov. Locke said about our endangered Chinook salmon, the essential diet of the Southern resident orcas, "extinction is not an option."
As Secretary of Commerce, Locke will preside over the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (responsible for salmon and orca recovery) and will have a key role in determining how to restore salmon runs in the Salish Sea and from the Columbia River to the Sacramento. The Obama team has declared that respect for science is back, and with Locke at Commerce and OSU environmental scientist and marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco as the new head of NOAA there is every reason to expect that sound science will guide restoration efforts, at last.
Also, in December 2002 Governor Locke provided money from his own discretionary funds to pay for the rescue tug at Neah Bay to prevent oil spills, during the state's 2 billion dollar shortfall.
Gov. Locke is also among the political figures who have supported the goals of the Lolita Come Home campaign to retire the Southern resident orca captured in 1970 who remains on display in a Miami marine park.
If Gov. Locke is nominated and confirmed as Sec. of Commerce he will be in a position to act on these principles immediately in the determination of the impacts of the proposed expansion of the Navy's NW Training Range to include most of the waters along the coast from Neah Bay, WA to Eureka, CA. If approved, multiple ships, subs and aircraft will be practicing with a wide range of sonars including explosive active sonars, along with demolition charges, torpedoes and a variety of anti-submarine munitions. The comment period has been extended to March 11, and NOAA is required to review the proposal and comment on the potential impacts to marine mammals (including endangered Southern resident orcas) and birds, fish (especially listed Chinook salmon) and turtles along the coastline. The Navy EIS says no marine mammal mortalities are anticipated due to mitigations such as placing observers on ships and listening for whale calls amid the maneuvering ships, sonars and explosions. As Sec. of Commerce, Locke (or Lubchenco) will review the EIS and at the very least, comment on how realistic that prediction of no mortalities really is. It's unclear whether NOAA can hold up the training range expansion.
Locke can also be a valuable voice in Sec. Clinton's diplomatic initiatives to tone down international tensions following 8 years of Bush/Cheney hostility, which degraded communications and contributed to the perceived need to train for an attack by enemy submarines.