President Barack Obama will announce plans to create what could be the largest marine preserve in the world to protect areas of the Pacific Ocean controlled by the U.S. from overfishing and environmental damage, according to a report by The Washington Post.
The proposal will go into effect later this year, according to the Post. It would create a large marine sanctuary as part of an effort to safeguard more ocean territory.
The plan would expand the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to nearly 782,000 square miles from 87,000 square miles. The monument was created by President George W. Bush right before he left office in 2009.
In all, it would have an effect on seven island and atolls controlled by the U.S., according to the newspaper.
The president will announce his plans via video message at an oceans conference hosted by the State Department.
The White House said that Obama wants to protect the ocean from fishing, drilling and other actions that could be harmful to wildlife. He is also considering expanding protected waters that surround a group of mainly uninhabited islands that the U.S. controls near Hawaii and American Samoa.
The measure will most likely please environmental advocates, but bother political rivals, who have accused Obama of conducting an imperial presidency by resorting to unilateral actions without obtaining congressional approval first.
"It's another example of this imperial presidency," House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said to the Post. "If there are marine sanctuaries that should be put in place, that should go through Congress."
The White House says it will listen to public input and is still finalizing the boundaries of the proposal.
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