By Jonathan D. Salant of Star Ledger/NJ.com 

Don't expect to see oil rigs off the Jersey Shore.

That was the message the state's Republican lawmakers walked away with following a meeting Tuesday with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

"If it's not off the table, it will soon be off the table," said Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., one of four GOP representatives from the state who joined other Atlantic Coast lawmakers and Zinke at the U.S. Capitol.

 

That was the message the state’s Republican lawmakers walked away with following a meeting Tuesday with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

 

“If it’s not off the table, it will soon be off the table,” said Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., one of four GOP representatives from the state who joined other Atlantic Coast lawmakers and Zinke at the U.S. Capitol.

President Donald Trump, overturning a five-year plan that excluded the Atlantic Coast until at least 2022, proposed opening almost the entire continental shelf to oil drilling.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, seated, talks to Reps. Chris Smith, far right, and Tom MacArthur at a meeting at the Capitol on Tuesday, (Courtesy Rep. Chris Smith's office)

Zinke plans more meetings with state officials on proposal, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has planned 23 public meetings, and those who cannot attend a session can comment at www.regulations.gov by submitted by March 9, Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift said.

Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd Dist., said Zinke acknowledged that the area off the coast off New Jersey met none of the criteria for opening the area to oil drilling.

"He said, 'You don't have any reserves, you don't have any onshore infrastructure.," LoBiondo said, "He said, 'You're not a prime candidate. You have unanimous bipartisan opposition to this. These are things we're looking at carefully.'"

"There was nothing in what he said that led me to believe we would be seriously considered," LoBiondo said.

Trump, who has called climate change a Chinese hoax, was elected on a pledge to increase U.S. energy production, including oil.

His drilling proposal drew unanimous opposition from New Jersey's congressional delegation and state officials, led by Gov. Phil Murphy.

"It's crystal clear to the secretary that we don't want offshore drilling and he's going to have a fight on his hands if he tries to push it," said Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-3rd Dist.

Lawmakers said the entire Atlantic coast could be placed off limits under the latest drilling plan.

Zinke already dropped Florida from the proposed drilling area, and all 14 federal lawmakers from the Garden State urged him in January to do the same to New Jersey for the same reasons. 

State officials feared the impact of an oil spill on a New Jersey tourism industry generating $43 billion annually and supporting 500,000 jobs, and a fishing industry adding $7.9 billion a year to the state's economy and creating more than 50,000 jobs.

"Everybody in New Jersey is concerned about our coast," said Rep. Leonard Lance, R-7th Dist. "Everybody in New Jersey has an emotional attachment to what we call, 'The Shore.'"

In addition, the state still is recovering from Hurricane Sandy.

"One spill could be disaster," Smith said.

Until Zinke officially removes the Jersey Shore from the proposed five-year plan, LoBiondo said the campaign of opposition needs to continue.

"I don't think we can let up," he said. "I don't think we can drop our guard."

This story was published on Page 1 of the Star Ledger Feb. 28 2018 print edition and can be found online at:
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/02/jersey_shore_likely_to_be_spared_oil_rigs_nj_reps.html