The president appointed Jane Lubchenco, the former vice chair of the Environmental Defense Fund, to head all of NOAA. What kind of balance is that in an agency that is supposed to promote ocean businesses? "It's a revolving door from NOAA to environmental groups back to NOAA," said Canastra, pleading with Brown to open congressional hearings on the environmental lobby's stranglehold on NOAA.
So the next time you think if only the Democratic city of New Bedford and its beleaguered fishing industry could somehow get the attention of Obama himself. If only that hard-hearted Commerce Secretary Gary Locke weren't in charge, maybe New Bedford fishermen could get a break. Think again.
Barney Frank, John Kerry, Deval Patrick and Scott Lang have absolutely no juice with the Obama administration when it comes to the fishing industry.
It's Obama himself who stacked NOAA with the powerful environmentalists who, by their own words, want to put small business fishermen out of business.