After Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced that Florida would be exempt from his proposal to open almost all of the U.S. outer continental shelf to oil and gas exploration and drilling, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) said that other states with serious concerns about offshore drilling should be exempt as well.
After Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced that Florida would be exempt from his proposal to open almost all of the U.S. outer continental shelf to oil and gas exploration and drilling, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) said that other states with serious concerns about offshore drilling should be exempt as well.
“Florida is not ‘unique’ in this situation,” said Smith, who is himself a long-time opponent of drilling off the New Jersey coastline. “New Jersey—along with other coastal states—has serious concerns about the potential consequences of offshore drilling and exploration for its $8 billion commercial and recreational fishing industry and its beach tourism, which contributes significantly to its over $40 billion tourism industry.
“A waiver from offshore drilling should also be granted to New Jersey,” said Smith, who has reached out directly to the Secretary and expects to discuss the matter with him shortly.
Zinke cited his discussion with the state’s governor Rick Scott in his “removing Florida from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms,” after just last week announcing that he proposed to open almost all of the U.S. outer continental shelf to oil drilling.
Zinke said in a statement on Tuesday, “I support the governor’s position that Florida is unique and its coasts are heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver.” Zinke announced that Florida would get a waiver from his drilling proposal, saying that President Trump had told him to “rebuild our offshore oil and gas program in a manner that supports our national energy policy and also takes into consideration the local and state voice.”
“All states and localities opposed to this drilling proposal should be heard and those with compelling reasons, like New Jersey, should receive waivers, if we’re really about respecting local concerns in our national energy policy,” Smith said.
“I have been—and remain—unalterably opposed to the offshore drilling proposal,” he stated, “and I will continue fighting to protect New Jersey’s beaches and coastal waters from efforts to expand oil and gas drilling and exploration.”
Last week, Smith led a letter to Zinke, with all members of the New Jersey Congressional Delegation signing on stating their “strong opposition” to the proposal.
“Economically, this proposal will impact 1.4 million jobs and over $95 billion in gross domestic product that rely on healthy Atlantic Ocean ecosystems,” the letter stated. “We urge you to reconsider opening our coast to oil and gas exploration and development. Asserting our energy independence and protecting our environment do not have to be mutually exclusive, and we must accomplish this in a way that does not compromise our coastal waters and beaches that drive our economy.” Smith also signed onto a letter from members of Congress to the Obama administration in 2015, asking for a halt to the review and acceptance process for potential oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic.
Rep. Smith had written a letter to Zinke back in August detailing his opposition to drilling off the coast of New Jersey. “I urge you to consider the damage that opening the Atlantic to new offshore oil and gas development and the issuance of these permits will have on the people, wildlife and economic prosperity of New Jersey and to reject opening the Atlantic to offshore oil and gas development and the applications for permits for seismic testing off our coast,” Smith wrote to Zinke.
Oil and gas exploration could feature seismic testing to determine where reserves are located under the ocean; this involves emitting large blasts of air on the ocean floor 100,000 times more powerful than a jet engine. These could deafen or seriously injure local marine wildlife which rely upon sonar power for movement, and could significantly affect local fish populations relied upon by commercial fishermen for their livelihood.
An oil spill off the coast of New Jersey, even a minor one, could wash ashore due to the ocean currents, wreaking havoc on the state’s beaches and on local residents and businesses which rely upon beach tourism.
When the Obama administration proposed opening up areas off of the U.S. East Coast for drilling and exploration, 500,000 fishing families, over 41,000 businesses, and over 100 municipalities and 1,200 elected officials on the coast publicly opposed seismic airgun blasting and/or offshore drilling in the Atlantic.
That proposal was scuttled, only to be brought back and expanded last week when Secretary Zinke revealed his proposal for the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS Program) from the years 2019-2024, which would open up over 90 percent of the U.S. outer continental shelf to oil and gas drilling and exploration.