Congress Introduces Many Bills To Protect Our Coast
Environmental groups are calling on Congress to introduce and pass one bill that will protect the entire coast of the United States and the Great Lakes from oil and gas drilling.
“Oil and gas companies want to drill off our coast”, said Dan Jacobson, legislative director for Environment California. “They failed in their attempt to open up the Arctic Refuge and now they want to drill off of our favorite beaches.”
Several bills have been recently introduced in Congress that would protect states from oil and gas drilling. Florida Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez introduced a bill that would give the coast of Florida permanent protection from oil and gas drilling. California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein introduced legislation today to protect California from further oil and gas drilling. New Jersey Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg introduced a bill to protect the mid-Atlantic region from oil and gas drilling.
“It is clear that no one wants drilling off their coast,” said Athan Manuel, director of preservation programs for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “Oil companies are trying to play the states off each other.”
With a vast selection of alternatives available to power our nation, environmental groups are fighting to make sure oil companies don’t drill off our coast to get just a few months worth of oil when cleaner options are available.
“Increasing efficiency for cars and trucks so they go further on a gallon of gas, increasing solar power, building more energy efficient homes, increasing the use of wind power, these are the ideas we should be proposing, not drilling off our favorite summer destinations,” said Jacobson.
Last year Congressman Richard Pombo (CA- Tracy) introduced a bill designed to give states the option to opt out of the national moratorium on oil drilling. Environmental groups defeated the bill last year, but expect the congressman to re-introduce the issue later this year.
“Drilling in some of America’s most special places will only prolong our oil addiction,” said Jacobson. “Instead of looking for another fix, our members of Congress need to stand together to fight oil and gas drilling.”
“Oil companies will try every trick in the book,” said Erin Bowser, director of Ohio Public Interest Research Group. “Our members of Congress need to stand together as a united front and ban oil and gas drilling in the Great Lakes as well as off our coasts.”
