May 2, 2016 — WASHINGTON, DC — Seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean, which can hurt marine life, is no longer needed now that the Obama administration dropped plans to drill for oil and gas there, U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and Robert Menendez said in a letter joined by 16 of their Democratic colleagues.
The senators asked President Barack Obama to end plans for the Atlantic testing,
Such tests, which involve airgun blasting, “can cause the catch rates of some commercial fish species to plummet, displace fish over large areas, and broadly disrupt the feeding and breeding behaviors of whales and other marine life,” the senators wrote.
The Obama administration dropped plans to allow oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic Ocean.
Other senators signing the letter included Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.