Saving Seafood

New Senate effort to keep oil rigs away from the Jersey Shore pushed by Menendez

May 27, 2021 — Legislation to permanently ban offshore drilling off the Atlantic Coast was introduced Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, the latest effort by New Jersey’s federal lawmakers to keep oil rigs away from the Jersey Shore.

The bill would prevent the Interior Department from issuing any leases in the Atlantic Ocean or the Straits of Florida. The Atlantic Coast had been placed off limits to oil exploration through 2022 under the Interior Department’s five-year drilling plan, but Donald Trump tried to open most of the waters around the U.S. to drilling.

President Joe Biden put a stop to Trump’s efforts during his first week in office.

“As we turn the corner on the pandemic and hope for near-normal crowds and a strong summer for businesses at the Jersey Shore, the last thing we need is to open our coast up for a manmade disaster like an oil spill that threatens an already fragile economy,” Menendez said.

“Our boardwalks, restaurants, small businesses, and fishing industries depend on the health and safety of our beaches and the millions of tourists and day-trippers they attract,” he said.

Read the full story at NJ.com

South Jersey Times: Christie should fight hard to keep drilling ban

January 11, 2018 — With less than a week to go in office and part of his legacy on the line, Gov. Chris Christie has called out President Donald Trump over his administration’s unilateral call to open the entire East Coast to offshore energy drilling.

The possibility of drilling causing a spill despoiling the Atlantic Coast or otherwise ruining New Jersey’s tourism and fishing industries has long been a third rail of Garden State politics, uniting Democrats and Republicans alike. Past attempts to increase coastal drilling — and even President Barack Obama authorized them — generally had “opt-out” features for states, often won after protests from New Jersey lawmakers and governors.

The latest move by U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, with Trump’s apparent blessing, to open both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to more drilling has no specific carve-outs. A current drilling moratorium for the Atlantic coast was supposed to last until at least 2022.

With all due respect to most of the New Jersey elected officeholders who circled the wagons against the Zinke proposal, just as they had in the past: They have no juice with this president.

Read the full story at the South Jersey Times

 

N.J. leaders seek to block Trump plan for oil drilling off Jersey shore

January 10, 2018 — WASHINGTON — Three dozen Senate Democrats, including Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, asked Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to exclude the Atlantic coast from plans to expand offshore oil drilling.

New Jersey lawmakers also questioned why drilling would still be allowed off the Garden State coast while Zinke has dropped plans to allow it off the Florida coast.

Acting at the behest of President Donald Trump, Zinke proposed opening most of the area off the U.S. coasts to oil drilling, including the Atlantic coast that currently is off limits through at least 2022.

“This draft proposal is an ill-advised effort to circumvent public and scientific input, and we object to sacrificing public trust, community safety, and economic security for the interests of the oil industry,” the 36 senators wrote to Zinke. “We urge you to abandon this effort.”

Reps. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist. and Frank LoBiondo, R-2nd Dist., signed a separate letter to Zinke in opposition to Atlantic offshore drilling.

Read the full story at NJ.com

Senators Booker, Menendez Introduce Bill to Ban Seismic Testing in Atlantic

May 27, 2017 — U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-NJ), Bill Nelson, (D-Fla.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the “Atlantic Seismic Airgun Protection Act’’ a bill to ban oil, gas and methane hydrate-related seismic activities in the Atlantic Ocean. The bill will prohibit the use of seismic airgun blasting — a disruptive and potentially economically damaging method of surveying offshore oil and gas reserves — in the North Atlantic, Mid Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Straits of Florida.

“Offshore fossil fuel exploration of any kind in the Atlantic poses a direct and serious threat to New Jersey’s economy and environment. My colleagues and I will do everything in our power to protect our coastal communities and those who work in our fishing industry from the potentially disastrous effects of seismic blasting,” said Senator Booker. “Our bill makes it clear that when it comes to offshore oil exploration of any kind, the Atlantic and our coasts are off limits.”

“We are introducing this commonsense legislation because we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our environment, and allowing big oil to use seismic blasting methods that are incredibly disruptive to marine life is a total abdication of that responsibility,” said Senator Menendez. “New Jersey’s fishing industry supports tens of thousands of jobs, and the state is home to one of the largest saltwater recreational fishing industries in the nation. I will continue to fight for New Jersey’s clean coastal waters and rich ecosystems, our small businesses and fishermen who have built and sustained a thriving shore economy against all odds in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, and for all New Jerseyans who know the value of having a clean energy future.”

Booker has been an outspoken advocated for a ban on seismic airgun blasting and other harmful extraction efforts in the Atlantic. In Aug. 2015, Booker sent a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) urging a denial of four seismic survey applications for oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic Ocean. Last month, Booker spoke out against President Trump’s executive order on expediting off-shore drilling, pledging to fight the Administration’s efforts to erode coastal protections from off-shore drilling.

Read the full story at the Cape May County Herald

New Jersey senators among group requesting offshore drilling ban

October 7, 2016 — TRENTON, N.J. — Senators Cory Booker and Robert Menendez are among 14 legislators who have called for President Barack Obama to ban drilling off the Atlantic Coast in any areas that have not already been leased.

NJ.com reports the two New Jersey Democrats signed a letter requesting the ban that was sent to Obama on Thursday along with fellow like-minded senators.

The letter also asked that Obama use his executive power to make the Arctic Ocean off-limits to oil drilling.

The senators say drilling in waters off the East Coast threaten fishing and tourism — key economic drivers for coastal states — because of the risk of a spill.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald