www.montereycountynow.com MARCH 6-12, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 15 Here’s a vision we can all agree on, whatever our political leanings. The mission of the U.S. Department of Commerce is “to create the conditions for economic growth and opportunity for all communities,” according to the agency’s website. “The Department works to drive U.S. economic competitiveness, strengthen domestic industry, and spur the growth of quality jobs in all communities across the country.” Close your eyes and think about what that looks like— maybe you conjure infrastructure like good rail lines or sturdy bridges. Maybe it’s easy access for entrepreneurs to loans. Or maybe it’s a group of scientists evaluating the potential risks of a fishery to a protected species like humpback whales. Ok, that’s not what most of us think of when we envision “economic competitiveness.” But all of these functions are contained within the Department of Commerce’s umbrella, whose 13 bureaus include the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. I’m thinking about how sound science matters to economic prosperity because NOAA was the latest federal agency to face slash-and-burn terminations, which came to Monterey County on Thursday, Feb. 27. At least six employees of NOAA agencies—three at the National Weather Service’s Monterey office, and three at NOAA Fisheries—were unceremoniously fired. Four days later, I met up with the former Fisheries employees to talk about their work; they describe themselves as cooperative links in a chain. One project they worked on was the Climate Ecosystems and Fisheries Initiative (CEFI). Allison Cluett is a physical scientist who worked on sophisticated ocean modeling with projections that go out as far as a century; Heather Welch is a marine biologist who’d been looking at what those models and ocean warming events could mean for species presence and interactions; and Matthew Koller is a communications pro, who converts that science into laypeople’s terms. (A disclosure: Koller is a former intern at the Weekly.) Their work was in the science realm, not policy, but the science gets handed over to policymakers. One application of this research is regulating the types of fishing gear allowed, or changing fishery start/end dates (for example, delaying Dungeness crab season to avoid humpback whale entanglements). At first glance, that might look like bad news for the economy, and that’s certainly what Elon Musk would have you believe—aren’t regulators making it too hard to earn money? But we have to look only as far as Monterey Bay, where the sardine fishery collapsed in the 1950s, devastating the resource—and the jobs that it supported. What if NOAA Fisheries then had the modeling capabilities it had today? Would Monterey still be a fishing town? I asked Matthew Savoca, a research scientist at Hopkins Marine Station in Pacific Grove, about this. “If the biology and ecology of those species was understood—yeah, we could still have an operating sardine fishery today,” he offers. Savoca funds his research, focused on microplastics, by applying to grants. He notes the nature of science that advances the public good—and that even in his funding stream of so-called “soft money,” the public has come to rely on government dollars. This is true not just of marine science research, but also cancer research, Alzheimer’s research, space exploration and so on. “There is not anything you do that is not affected by American progress. The diagnosis you get from a doctor; the food that you eat; absolutely everything is going to be impacted in a grave way to save a few pennies,” Savoca says. “It’s just baffling. The biggest reason is just a misunderstanding, a scapegoating of scientists. “Science isn’t something to be believed. It’s not like a religion that you have faith in or not, it’s just a way of thinking. Something has shifted.” Not only does that shift mean the research and the researchers’ livelihoods are imperiled, it’s also bad for the economy. Imagine the brain drain on a place like Monterey County, that draws top-notch scientists to local institutions. Imagine that scaled up nationally—it doesn’t align with the mission of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Science Under Siege Federal cuts are bad for scientific research, which is bad for all of us. By Sara Rubin WASTE NOT…Squids have three-chambered hearts but Squid is finding that Squid’s brain has two chambers. One chamber spins frantically watching attacks on democracy. The other is focused on day-to-day living—we all have to eat, so it’s off to Costco to stock up on shrimp-flavored popcorn. The day-to-day is also the focus of local governments, which must keep governing even in the worst of times. Governing takes trained, qualified people and if you don’t have enough, you’re going to have a problem. Pacific Grove is learning the hard way. Consulting company MRG assessed City Hall’s operations and made 44 findings. Top of the list: departments are understaffed; employees are able to complete day-to-day tasks but not special projects; infrastructure is aging and there are no funds to replace it; technology is lacking. The list goes on. Leaders have been loath to add more people to the payroll. P.G. could have more revenue today but keeps stumbling due to opposition: a cannabis retail store hasn’t materialized; a downtown hotel under construction was delayed; new outdoor dining areas look great but with no shelter, sat empty all winter. In February, the P.G. City Council agreed that tough choices lie ahead. Squid has the shrimp-flavored popcorn ready. TASK MASTER…Squid knew it was just a matter of time until DOGE’s slashand-burn approach came to Squid’s lair, with so many federal employees working and living in Monterey County. It came on Feb. 27 for at least six local employees within the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (see story, p. 10), whose work included helping ensure there is enough shrimp-flavored popcorn available in the sea for Squid. While Squid is not a federal employee, Squid thought it might be a good idea to start documenting Squid’s own five tasks each week—seems like it could help to stay on good terms with Elon Musk in case Starlink goes down and Squid needs tech support. What Squid did this week: 1. Researched how to obtain an Italian passport if your assumed last name is calamari. 2. Read a banned book. 3. Made some travel plans to go to Mexico for vacation, while there are no travel restrictions for Squid to get to and from the Gulf of…whatever it’s called. 4. Looked up the Kelley Blue Book value of Squid’s Tesla, in order to list it for sale. 5. Started building a chicken coop and ordered some chicks and one rooster, which seems like a good idea considering the price of eggs. Squid wants to be sure Musk and his chainsaw-wielding team know that it takes all 10 appendages to achieve all that work—Squid hopes to stay whole during the wild ride ahead. THE LOCAL SPIN SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “The reason is a scapegoating of scientists.” SEND SQUID A TIP: squid@montereycountynow.com
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==