A few months back, I wrote about the unexpectedly welcome news that President Bush asked his cabinet for a plan to protect the waters around some of the most remote islands in the Pacific Ocean, including the Mariana Trench, the deepest spot on earth.  We read that, and we thought, “Huh.  That’s pretty awesome.  We’ll put this one in the win column for this administration.”

Aaaaaannnnnd…not so fast.  There are objections to the plan.  And, not from the most helpful of places.  Richard Dreyfuss The Penguin Vice President Dick Cheney is not onboard with this idea, at all.  The Washington Post reports (and, yes, sorry about the cheap dig at the Vice President…they’re not even original jokes, and all joking aside, I have heard he’s a nice man, in person):

Vice President Cheney and some officials in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands have argued that the plan could hurt the region’s economy by barring fishing and energy exploration.

Ah, yes.  Money.  It always comes down to money. In fact, based on the article, it seems as if the prevailing opposing viewpoint is, “Well, of course these areas are gorgeous and contain all sorts of biodiversity, and are still pristine, but there might be stuff we can get out of there and sell!”

No one questions the ecological, biological and geological value of these sites, but supporters of protecting them — including Connaughton and advocacy organizations such as the Pew Environment Group — have faced serious opposition in convincing several key White House officials of the value of broad “no-take” reserves. Bush initially explored the idea of establishing other protected areas closer to U.S. shores, including one off the southeastern coast near a group of deep-sea corals and another in the Gulf of Mexico. After commercial and recreational fishing interests and oil companies objected, the administration decided to pursue existing resource-management plans in those areas instead.

And, that’s how we get gridlock.  You can takepart and visit the Natural Resources Defense Council’s page on how to save the oceans.