Obama on Thursday will tout his decision to expand the Papahanaumokuakea (pah-pah-hah-NOW’-moh-koo-ah-KAY’-ah) Marine National Monument, which includes Midway and is becoming the world’s largest stretch of protected waters.
Advertisement
“Seven thousand species live in its waters, a quarter of which are not found anywhere else in the world”, he said. He hopped to Midway from Honolulu on a smaller version of Air Force One, landing on an airstrip that gained prominence when the Battle of Midway became a turning point in World War II.
Because the U.S. plan was termed an “executive agreement”, the White House says Obama did not require Senate approval for ratification.
The White House said Obama planned to go snorkeling with friends to see the marine life on the atoll’s submerged coral reefs.
Obama on Friday was visiting the Midway Atoll to see a fraction of his new 582,578 square mile monument.
Asked on Midway whether he would focus on tackling climate change as part of his work after he leaves office in January, Obama said he may try to influence Republican politicians who deny the phenomenon. “So this is a hallowed site, and it deserves to be treated that way, and from now on, it will be preserved for future generations”. But opponents argued the region is heavily dependent on fishing and can’t afford the hit, adding that a federal ban would infringe on the traditions that ancient Hawaiians used to protect natural resources.
Obama and Xi have been strident advocates of the sweeping global emissions-cutting deal struck in Paris a year ago.
In meetings with China’s Xi on Saturday, Obama was expected to formally ratify a much-heralded plan to reduce carbon emissions, part of a larger global agreement sealed in Paris past year. He’s visited the country twice in his second term, and announced on a stop there in November the return of a USA military presence at a critical naval base on the South China Sea.
“These aren’t “photo ops” – I think these are real opportunities to help the American people understand”, said Carol Browner, a former head of the Environmental Protection Agency who advised Obama on climate issues in his first term.
Midway derives its name from its location roughly halfway between Asia and North America, which made it a strategic place for trans-Atlantic flights to refuel.
In June 1942, US forces, tipped by code-breakers that the Japanese navy was planning an attack, sank four Japanese aircraft carriers and a heavy cruiser in a giant air-sea battle.
Still, the wealth of biological diversity here is almost unparalleled: millions of birds, hundreds of species of fish and marine invertebrates, green sea turtles and Hawaiian monk seals.
Obama marveled at a group of turtles basking in the sun but was also pointed to bits of plastic littered around the island that had been ingested by its many albatross.
Advertisement
Add Your Voice Is there more to this story? “You know, when we bind ourselves to a bunch of global norms and rules it’s not because we have to, it’s because we recognize that over the long term, building a strong worldwide order is in our interests”.
