releases: https://www.menendez.senate.gov/news-and-events/press/menendez-booker-pallone-lead-nj-delegation-in-urging-trump-admin-to-reverse-course-on-seismic-testing-offshore-drilling-
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| https://www.menendez.senate.gov/news-and-events/press/menendez-booker-pallone-lead-nj-delegation-in-urging-trump-admin-to-reverse-course-on-seismic-testing-offshore-drilling- | Menendez, Booker, Pallone Lead NJ Delegation in Urging Trump Admin to Reverse Course on Seismic Testing, Offshore Drilling | 2018-12-06 | 2018 | 2018-12 | Democrat | House | NJ | Robert Menendez | M000639 | www.menendez.senate.gov | legacy | Menendez, Booker, Pallone Lead NJ Delegation in Urging Trump Admin to Reverse Course on Seismic Testing, Offshore Drilling Menendez, Booker, Pallone Lead NJ Delegation in Urging Trump Admin to Reverse Course on Seismic Testing, Offshore Drilling Thursday, December 6, 2018 WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, and Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (N.J.-06) today led the New Jersey congressional delegation in condemning the Trump Administration's decision to move forward with seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean for the purpose of oil and gas exploration that could jeopardize sea life, the environment and the Jersey Shore. A letter they sent to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke urging them to reverse course was cosigned by U.S. Representatives Albio Sires (N.J.-08), Donald Norcross (N.J.-01), Donald Payne, Jr. (N.J.-10), Frank LoBiondo (N.J.-02), Bill Pascrell, Jr. (N.J.-09), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.-05) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (N.J.-12). This decision is a threat to our coastal ecosystems, and places the wishes of the oil industry above the needs and values of the people living and working in our shore communities, the letter stated. Seismic blasting and offshore drilling anywhere in the Atlantic is a threat to the ecosystems and coastal economies of states throughout our region. New Jersyeans and people up and down the East Coast remain steadfast against any effort to drill off of our shores. Allowing for seismic blasting in support of an oil drilling scheme that will never become reality is needlessly harmful. Last Friday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) authorized five companies to harm marine mammals during widespread seismic testing, which would include blasting just miles off the southern coast of New Jersey. This would pose profound harm to marine life and coastal ecosystems. The Jersey Shore is home to nearly $800 billion in coastal properties and a tourism industry that generates $44 billion a year and supports over half a million direct and indirect jobs, or nearly ten percent of the state's entire workforce. New Jersey's vibrant fishing industry supports over 50,000 jobs. The state has one of the largest saltwater recreational fishing industries in the nation. All of these are threatened by offshore drilling. Sens. Menendez and Booker and Rep. Pallone vehemently opposed the Trump Administration's decision in January to reopen the Atlantic to offshore drilling as part of the largest planned expansion of offshore drilling in decades in the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific Oceans and the Gulf of Mexico, including in areas previously blocked off the Jersey Shore and throughout the Atlantic from Florida to Maine. Sens. Menendez and Booker and Rep. Pallone led the charge in 2015 to remove the Atlantic Ocean from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program (Five-Year Plan). The New Jersey lawmakers also successfully convinced President Obama before leaving office to permanently ban oil and gas exploration in areas of the Atlantic Ocean by exercising the authority granted to him by Congress under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). In May 2017, Sens. Menendez and Booker and Rep. Pallone reintroduced theirClean Ocean and Safe Tourism (COAST) Anti-Drilling Actthat prohibits the U.S. Department of Interior from issuing leases for the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas in the North, Mid-, or South Atlantic Oceanor the Straits of Florida. Full text of the letter is below and can be downloaded here: December 6, 2018 The Honorable Wilbur Ross Secretary U.S. Department of Commerce 1401 Constitution Avenue NW Washington, DC 20230 The Honorable Ryan Zinke Secretary U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20240 Dear Secretaries Ross and Zinke: We write in strong opposition to seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean for the purposes of oil and gas exploration in light of the November 30th decision by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to authorize the harm and harassment of marine mammals. These authorizations pave the way for five companies to conduct widespread seismic testing, including allowing blasting just miles off the southern coast of New Jersey. This decision is a threat to our coastal ecosystems, and places the wishes of the oil industry above the needs and values of the people living and working in our shore communities. Seismic testing can be profoundly detrimental to marine life and to our coastal ecosystems. Seismic blasts can cause hearing loss in marine mammals, leading to strandings and mortality. The blasts can also cause abandonment of habitat; disruption of communication, feeding, and mating behaviors; and a decline in catch rates for our vital fishing industries. Species like the iconic North Atlantic right whale, which is already critically endangered, would be further threatened by this decision. Compounding our concerns is the fact that these harassment authorizations are being issued in service of allowing oil drilling in the Atlantic. The Administration has been single-minded in its efforts to sell our shores to the highest bidderbut time and again, the people most impacted by this plan have voiced their strenuous opposition. Seismic testing goes against the express wishes of the over 120 municipalities, 1,200 elected officials, 42,000 businesses, and 500,000 fishing families from up and down the Atlantic coast who have all voiced their opposition to oil and gas activities. Seismic blasting and offshore drilling anywhere in the Atlantic is a threat to the ecosystems and coastal economies of states throughout our region. New Jersyeans and people up and down the East Coast remain steadfast against any effort to drill off of our shores. Allowing for seismic blasting in support of an oil drilling scheme that will never become reality is needlessly harmful. We call on the Department of Commerce to immediately reverse these ill-founded authorizations, and the Department of the Interior to deny all pending seismic survey permits for seismic testing in the Atlantic Ocean. Sincerely, | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |