Former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows hammered President Biden over a plan to severely regulate the speed of boats along the Atlantic coast in deference to an endangered whale of which only five have been killed in the past 15 years.
According to reporting from Fox News' Douglas Kennedy, watermen are also sounding the alarm over NOAA's 10-knot (11 mph) limit proposal, fearing it could wreck the sportfishing industry, cause safety concerns in regard to intentionally-low speeds in choppy waters as it pertains to a boat's steerage, and could also trigger massive detrimental economic impacts.
The regulation would reportedly affect the Atlantic coastline from Massachusetts to Florida for up to 7 months per year at a distance of up to 100 miles from land.
On "Hannity," Meadows, a former Republican congressman from North Carolina – the coast of which would be affected by the move, called it a "regulator in search of a problem."
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"When we start looking at regulating the speed of boats because of a potential problem… virtue signaling is what it is," he said.
"This is the administration trying to get out and say, 'oh, we're going to be concerned about whales'."
Meadows said most Americans are concerned about marine life like the North Atlantic Right Whale, but added that the proposed regulation along with another Biden plan to wean Africa off of coal is just political positioning ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
"[The proposal by the Commerce Department under the auspices of NOAA] is not going to solve the problem. So what do they do? They give this second virtue-signal and they send $8 billion of the hardworking American taxpayer[s'] dollars to Africa to get them off of coal."
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"And that's not bad enough. [There is] another $2 billion that they're sending to Angola to have solar panels," he added.
In terms of the Angolan solar panel report, Meadows contended that money will ultimately benefit the Chinese, whom he predicted would sell the Atlantic coastal African nation the panels.
"It's just too much to believe. But yet we continue to see it. We'll see more of it as Joe Biden gets ready for his reelection campaign," he said.
In an earlier statement to Fox News, NOAA (the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) said through a spokesman that there are only 350 right whales left in the ocean:
"This rule is designed to reduce the risk of mortalities from vessel strikes and afford the species a greater opportunity to recover," the statement read.
Fox News' Douglas Kennedy contributed to this report.
