November 22nd, 2007 by: Phil McJenna ONE of the George W. Bush's
final acts as US president could be to create the largest marine
conservation area in the world. White House officials say that
Bush is considering a proposal to turn up to 2.3 million square
kilometres of tropical waters, coral reefs and remote island
atolls in the Pacific Ocean into US National Monuments (see
map). "As bad as his environmental record has been, he could, as
one individual, protect more of the Earth's surface than anyone
else in history," says Lance Morgan of the US Marine
Conservation Biology Institute. Under the American Antiquities
Act of 1906, a president does not need congressional approval to
preserve public land or water for conservation as a National
Monument. In 2006, Bush used the act to designate a 365,000
square kilometre Marine National Monument incorporating the
northernmost islands of Hawaii, creating the world's largest
protected marine area. In late August this year, he announced
his interest in conserving addit