Through his refusal to recognize either the economic calamity the new regulations are foisting on New England's fishing communities — or the data showing that, indeed, there is no need for Lubchenco's beloved catch-share program — Locke has shown he's more a part of the problem than any solution.
In that vein, Kerry should realize that merely sitting around a table with Locke and Lubchenco — perhaps singing a few bars of "Kumbaya" — will somehow make this government-made economic crisis, and a true crisis in government confidence, go away.
It won't.
If Kerry, as he professes, truly wants to continue working to address the plight of independent fishermen, there are a couple of ways he can do that. And neither involves sitting down with two bureaucrats committed only to advancing Lubchenco's job-killing, small-business burying agenda.
One way is to stand up and back a Senate incarnation of the so-called Jones budget amendment, which would rightfully freeze any NOAA funding budgeted for further advancing catch share programs. That amendment emphatically passed the U.S. House last week, and could arise in the Senate in the coming days or weeks.
Read the complete editorial by the Gloucester Times.