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WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA) celebrated a victory for coastal protection as the House rejected a series of amendments that threatened to overturn the 26 year old bi-partisan Congressional ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Capps led the effort to defeat amendments by Reps. John Peterson (R-PA) and Mike Conaway (R-TX) to the FY2008 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill. The amendments sought to expand oil and gas drilling into sensitive coastal and marine areas that are currently off limits, despite the fact that the oil and gas industry already has access to the bulk of the oil and gas reserves that are located in areas of the OCS that are already open to drilling. Capps has been in the forefront of efforts to defeat similar proposals in previous Congresses and has introduced legislation to permanently protect California’s coastline from new offshore oil and gas drilling.
“I am very pleased we were able to defeat these misguided amendments that would have jeopardized our sensitive coastal environment and economies,” said Capps a member of the Natural Resources Committee. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: drilling for oil and natural gas is dirty, dangerous, and the slowest way to meet our country’s energy needs. This drill only approach to meeting our energy needs isn’t ending our addition to fossil fuels, it’s enabling it. If we really want to break the cycle of addiction we have to redouble our efforts to reduce demand, enhance efficiency, and invest in renewable energy sources.”
Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA) serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee and Natural Resources Committee. Capps represents California’s 23rd Congressional District, one of the few Congressional Districts in the country with active offshore drilling and the site of the 1969 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara.
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Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.
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