US House Democrats wasted little time before seven of them introduced bills on Jan. 8 aimed at keeping oil and gas exploration from expanding off their coastal states’ shores. The federal measures came as state legislators in Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island announced a coordinated effort to limit any new capabilities offshore their states.
The efforts came as the US Bureau of Offshore Energy Management prepared to issue its proposed US Outer Continental Shelf leasing program for 2019-24, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) said. Then-US Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke introduced a draft proposed program that would make more than 90% of total OCS acreage available on Jan. 4, 2018.
The draft faced public opposition and pushback from governors, who asked Zinke for state-level drilling exemptions, Grijalva said. “Today’s bills are about a cleaner, more sustainable future for our country,” he said. “We can create clean energy jobs and protect our coastlines at the same time with the right policy choices.”
Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), who is incoming chairman of the Natural Resources Committee’s Energy and Mineral Resources Committee and has introduced three similar bills in earlier sessions, noted, “Time and time again, from Santa Barbara to Deepwater Horizon, we have seen the potential widespread devastation from offshore oil drilling.”
He said, “We must make it clear, once and for all, that our coastlines will not pay the price of oil production greed and hubris. These bills will be a major step toward ensuring the coastlines remain unspoiled for generations to come.”
Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), the Energy and Commerce Committee’s new chairman who introduced one of the measures, said, “President Trump’s dangerous plans for offshore drilling will risk the livelihoods of millions on the Atlantic Coast and in New Jersey. An oil spill anywhere along the Atlantic Coast would cause severe environmental damage to fisheries, popular beaches, and wildlife.”
Cites accident threats
Rep. A. Donald McEachin (D-Va.), who reintroduced a bill that would keep BOEM from issuing leases off North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, said, “History has shown us that offshore drilling accidents can threaten public health, military operations, and marine life.” Reps. Elaine Luria (D-Va.), Gerald Connelly (D-Va.), Don Beyer (D-Va.), David Price (D-NC), and Robert C. Scott (D-Va.) were cosponsors.
State legislators offered bills restricting oil and gas drilling and transportation in state waters as members of the National Conference of Environmental Legislators, which has more than 1,000 members from all 50 states. “They are committed to protecting the US coastlines, and the safety and livelihood of their constituents,” NCEL Executive Director Jeff Mauk said.