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Belmar, N.J. - United States Senator Jon S. Corzine and Representative Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th Dist.) today spoke out against pending federal legislation that would put at risk the 24-year-old moratorium on offshore oil or gas exploration off the Jersey Shore.
The two federal lawmakers, who are co-sponsors with Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) of legislation that would make the moratorium permanent, said the energy bill pending in the Senate includes a provision that would direct the Department of Interior to inventory all potential oil and natural gas resources in the entire Outer Continental Shelf. That language contradicts long-standing congressional policy that prevents leasing or pre-leasing and related activities in most areas of the OCS.
The moratorium on leasing activities has been in effect since 1982 and included annually in Interior Department appropriations acts. In addition, President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and President Bill Clinton in 1998 declared leasing moratoriums. President Clinton extended the moratorium through 2012.
"An inventory would put our Shore at risk,’’ Senator Corzine said. "It would leave areas vulnerable to spills and drilling discharges and threatens marine ecosystems. We cannot afford to take that risk. Drilling poses serious threats to our environment and our economy.’’
"We don't need an inventory to tell us that there are no major prizes of oil or gas off the New Jersey coast," Congressman Pallone added. "The inventory is totally unnecessary and certainly not part of an intelligent national energy policy. We must protect both our economy and our environment, and the only way we can do that is to defeat this latest assault against the Jersey shore."
Tourism is one of New Jersey’s largest industries. It brings in more than $5.5 billion in tax revenues, provides jobs to more than 836,000 people and generates more than $16.6 billion in wages.
"A day at the Shore should mean clean water and natural beauty, not oil slicks and drilling rigs," said Senator Lautenberg. "The Jersey Shore is vital to our economy and quality of life, and I’ll fight to protect it. We should focus on conserving the energy that’s wasted on our highways every day, not risky oil exploration."
Since 2001, when the Bush administration floated the idea of an inventory of p otential gas and oil resources in the Outer Continental Shelf, Senator Corzine and Representative Pallone have sought passage of a bill that places a permanent ban on drilling off the Jersey Shore and all north and mid-Atlantic states, from Maine to Virginia.
The "COAST (Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism) Anti-Drilling Act'' would permanently extend an existing moratorium on oil and gas drilling off the Jersey Shore.
The legislation would end the periodic threat to inventory parts of the Outer Continental Shelf as a first step towards offshore oil or gas drilling. It would prohibit the Department of Interior from issuing leases for exploration, development or production of oil, natural gas or any other mineral in the Mid and North Atlantic.
The administration quickly reversed its planned study in 2001 after the bill was introduced, but some Senate members are again threatening the federal ban on new offshore drilling with amendments that would offer states the ability to opt out of the moratorium and offer royalty incentives should they decide to do so.
Interior Department officials are also again considering lifting the federal ban on new offshore drilling.
In addition, the House of Representatives in April passed a Republican energy bill that includes a provision giving states a financial incentive to undo the federal moratorium for their individual state.
Under current law, the federal government receives all the financial royalties from the offshore drilling that takes place in federal waters. As an incentive to non-drilling states, the Republican energy bill would now allow states a certain percentage of the royalties.
Senators Corzine and Lautenberg and Florida Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez plan to offer an amendment to the energy bill to strip the inventory provision. Letters are also circulating among the New Jersey congressional delegation and among Atlantic Coast senators to oppose any effort to weaken or destroy the moratorium. Senator Corzine has vowed to fight any further amendments that would weaken the moratorium on Outer Continental Shelf Drilling. |
