Washington, DC – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) today applauded House passage of an appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2022 that included his provision that would ban offshore drilling in specific areas for one year. The Pallone provision prohibits the Secretary of the Interior or the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management from conducting or authorizing oil and gas leasing and related activities along the Pacific coast, Atlantic coast, Florida’s coast, and in the Arctic Ocean.
“I’m proud that the House passed this appropriations bill that stops oil and gas executives from trading our coastline’s beauty for a big pay day. The coastal communities in my district depend on a healthy ecosystem to thrive. An oil spill would threaten the economic vitality of the Jersey shoreline and communities up and down the Atlantic Coast,” Congressman Pallone said. “We’ve made progress during the Biden Administration to protect our coastline from offshore drilling, and I’m looking forward to working with the President to ensure we enact a permanent ban on this dangerous practice. It’s now time for the Senate to take up the underlying legislation.”
An oil spill along the Atlantic Coast would devastate communities and wildlife habitats. In New Jersey, the tourism industry generates $44 billion a year and supports over half a million jobs. The Jersey Shore is home to over $700 billion in coastal properties, and the tourism industry generates almost half a million jobs - nearly ten percent of the state’s entire workforce. New Jersey’s commercial fishing industry generates over $7.9 billion annually supporting over 50,000 jobs. New Jersey also has one of the largest saltwater recreational fishing industries in the United States.
Pallone has served as a longtime advocate of an offshore drilling ban. In May, he reintroduced the COAST Anti-Drilling Act that would ban offshore drilling in the Atlantic. The reintroduction of Pallone’s bill coincides with a bipartisan effort across the country to permanently ban offshore drilling in U.S. federal waters in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico as the 2022 expiration date on the plan approaches. In January, President Biden issued an Executive Order that paused new leases for onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling on federal land and water.
Issues: Environment, New Jersey
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