I don't think Mr. Cheney was making a false statement, like so many scientists he is not a great communicator. In 2006 and 2007 Vibrio was a serious problem in oysters along the entire Pacific coast. Oyster beds did not suffer mass destruction but production in oyster hatcheries was reduced by about 50%. During the summer of 2007 Hood Canal oysters were put on a do not eat list by the FDA because of the risk to human health caused by the bacteria. For the oyster growers that was the equivalent of mass destruction. It is thought that coastal upwelling promoted conditions for the bacterial outbreak. The link to CO2 absorption (increasing acidity, lower ph) in the ocean and Hood Canal is that at lower ph's oysters are less resistant to bacterial diseases. Ocean acidification is not climate change, they are both linked to increased atmospheric CO2 levels, but the ocean acidification can be measured and is. In the last year off of the Oregon and Washington coast the measured levels were approaching what models predicted would happen 50 years from now. It is a serious problem and will impact all marine life.