Last week, President Barack Obama said he would use his executive authority to extend the prohibition against commercial fishing and energy production to 200 miles around the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, an unspoiled habitat for fish and migratory birds under federal oversight.
In one of George W. Bush's last official acts as president, he gave monument status to nearly 87,000 square miles of the same pristine marine environment. Like Mr. Bush, Mr. Obama limited fishing, recreational development and energy exploration in that stretch of uninhabited aquatic wilderness.
Mr. Obama expanded the area Mr. Bush sought to protect by adding an additional 150 nautical miles to the zone around the marine sanctuary. The two presidents agreed that as one of humanity's greatest treasures, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument should be protected from the kind of exploitation that routinely takes place around the world.
Such a major expansion of ocean sanctuary does not sit well with Republican lawmakers. They already resent Mr. Obama's willingness to use his executive authority. The GOP also believes the Obama administration's recognition of the reality of man-made climate change hovers in the background of every environmental decision.
Mr. Obama understands that he won't get any leeway in the Republican-controlled House, so taking executive action allowed by law is the only way to get important things done regarding the environment.
Editorial on 06/25/2014