環境責任公職人員組織(PEER)指出，白宮官員正在阻攔一項針對瀕臨絕種的北大西洋露脊鯨免於船隻撞擊的保護條例；而船隻的撞擊是導致鯨魚死亡的主因。
國家海洋及大氣總署(NOAA)於2006年6月26日提議，在露脊鯨沿東部海濱在佛羅里達和新英格蘭兩地遷徙期間，於港口入口周圍設下時速11.5英里的限制。
環境責任公職人員組織於14日致信國家海洋及大氣總署漁業局局長哈格斯博士(Dr. William Hogarth)，要求其解釋是何機關或何者阻礙最後條例的制定。
保護條例的持續延誤將使露脊鯨面臨瀕臨絕種的威脅，並引起世人日漸升高的憂慮。露脊鯨已達到目前官方「生物絕跡臨界值」（Potential Biological Removal）的零級程度，意即其族群連一頭幼鯨的死亡都無法承受。
新英格蘭環境責任公職人員組織主席班奈特(Kyla Bennett)表示，「目前露脊鯨的數量只剩300頭，牠們已經沒有時間等待長期政治角力的最終結果。」班奈特曾為聯邦生物學家，他已花了3年的時間努力於船速限制以及減少船隻撞擊的措施。
White House officials are blocking a rule intended to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale from ship strikes, the leading cause of whale mortality, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, PEER.
On June 26, 2006, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, proposed speed limits of 10 knots (11.5 miles per hour) for shipping around port entrances along the eastern seaboard during the migration of right whales between Florida and New England.
PEER today wrote to Dr. William Hogarth, head of NOAA Fisheries, seeking an explanation as to what or who is holding up enactment of the final rule.
The rising concern is based in the conclusion that further delays threaten this species with extinction. The right whale has reached a current official "Potential Biological Removal" level of zero, meaning that the population cannot sustain the premature loss of even one more whale.
"With only 300 right whales left in existence, this species does not have the luxury to wait for the outcome of protracted political games," said New England PEER Director Kyla Bennett, a former federal biologist, who has waged a three-year-long effort for speed limits and other ship strike reduction measures.
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