Commission-Public-Records
From:            Mills, Pete
Sent:               Friday, March 27, 2020 1:14 PM
To:                Smith, Lauren (Commission); Dressler, Amy
Subject:            Berkowitz Public Input on Commission item
Categories:         Public Comment

Lauren/Amy 
Below is an email received regarding an item on the commission agenda last week. I will leave it to your judgement if 
this constitutes public input for the meeting. 
Pete 
From: Rich Berkowitz 
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2020 2:45 PM
To: Calkins, Ryan ; Bowman, Stephanie ; Steinbrueck, Peter
; Felleman, Fred ; Cho, Sam 
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Interlocal Agreements to support Smith Cove Blue Carbon Monitoring Study to be discussed in POS March 24
Meeting
WARNING: This is an external email. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the
sender and expect the content of this email to be safe. 
Commissioners:
It has come to my attention that funding and approval of an inter-local agreement for the monitoring of kelp and eelgrass production
in Smith Cove will be on tomorrow's agenda for the POS Commission. I would encourage you to support this effort and expenditure
as a number of studies focused on the potential for such production to reduce waterway acidification, increase carbon capture,
improve fish habitat, increasing food production, and impact the release of methane from livestock by up to 90+ percent by using
seaweed as an additive to their feed.
I am particularly interested in the potential for the latter as it could be a way to foster increased southbound trade and improve the
imbalance in trade to/from Alaska. At a time when Alaska is suffering from a severe threat to its economy due to CV-19, low oil
prices, disruptions to its ability to sustain its fish harvesting and processing, a large state budget deficit, and an anticipated dearth of
tourism, finding new export products would be increasingly important to the Alaskan economy. Having some positive data from the
Smith Cove study may be of assistance to their interest in expanding Alaskan mariculture. Furthermore, we could also possibly help
to reduce the impact of methane as a threat to the environment and global warming.
If the Smith Cove Blue Carbon project moves forward I trust the POS would be willing to share its data and research with our
neighbors in Alaska.
Thanks for your consideration.
Best wishes and stay safe!
Rich

Richard Berkowitz
VP, Pacific Coast Operations
Transportation Institute
World Trade Center - West

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2200 Alaskan Way #110
Seattle WA 98121
206-443-1738

www.transportationinstitute.org 

























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