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For Immediate Release
• National Audubon Society * * * • League of Conservation Voters • U.S. PIRG • Defenders of Wildlife • Sierra Club • Natural Resources Defense Council • Clean Ocean Action
Jindal Offshore Drilling Bill Revokes Entire Moratorium, Forces States to Fight for Coastal Protections
"The House Resources Committee today holds a hearing on a bill that would revoke the offshore drilling moratorium and force states to fight for the same coastal protections they have enjoyed for 25 years. Although touted as a state "opt out" provision the bill, introduced by Bobby Jindal (R-LA), erases the bipartisan moratorium that the House voted this May to maintain.
States must then take proactive, complicated and repetitive steps to ask for new protection. The governor and state legislature must continually agree to such a request.
"Even if some states do manage to secure protection, other states might not. Either way, all coastal states are in this together. The large amounts of routine air and water pollution generated by offshore drilling activity off the coast of one state would affect the waters and coasts of neighboring states. A catastrophic spill—one that could spoil the ecology and economic value of a coastline for generations—is a real possibility and would also not stop at state borders. "In 24 hours a spill within the Gulf Stream could move as far as 140 miles, so a buffer zone of even 25 miles is hardly sufficient to protect neighboring states. To put it in perspective, the Exxon Valdez spill traveled 470 miles in 56 days and is still polluting the area 17 years later.
"A pillar of the Jindal bill is revenue sharing, whereby producing states would receive 75% of revenues from leases within 12 miles of their coast, and 50% of the revenue from leases further offshore. Offering up these funds that have traditionally gone back to the US Treasury would in effect create an incentive for cash-strapped states to accept drilling off their shores. This is a risky deal that could jeopardize vital and sustainable coastal communities who depend on clean beaches, quality recreation and commercial fisheries. This proposal would also add more than $3 billion to the federal deficit. That’s how much the U.S. Treasury could be expected to lose once the program is fully phased in.
"The move to lift coastal protections is largely based on the myth that significant quantities of offshore oil and gas resources are ‘off limits’ or 'locked up.' In reality, industry already has access to the vast majority of the estimated Outer Continental Shelf natural gas resources, including 4 times the amount of natural gas estimated to occur in moratoria areas by the Minerals Management Service (MMS).
"Offshore oil and gas drilling is the slowest, dirtiest and most expensive way to meet our energy needs. Opening our coasts to destructive drilling would do little to lower prices or make us more energy independent, but it would threaten our beaches with pollution and potential oil spills and destroy billion-dollar tourism and fishing industries. There are faster, cheaper, cleaner and longer-term energy solutions like energy efficiency and clean, renewable energy that will start saving families and businesses money today and protect our coastal waters, beaches and economies."
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