Letter to the Hon. Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior - Pallone Leads NJ Lawmakers in Opposition to Trump's Plan for Drilling off New Jersey's Coast

Letter

Dear Secretary Zinke:

We write in strong opposition to the executive order signed by President Trump to allow increased offshore drilling, including in the Atlantic Ocean. The order requires the Department of the Interior to revisit the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which could result in offshore drilling leases in the Atlantic. Oil and gas development in the Atlantic would have severe economic and environmental impacts on New Jersey and the Department of the Interior should not move forward with any attempts to allow it.

Last year, the Department of the Interior announced the removal of the Atlantic from consideration in its five-year oil and gas leasing plan. This was welcome news in New Jersey and all along the East Coast. The potential for drilling offshore united communities from across the Atlantic seaboard in opposition, resulting in 120 municipalities, 1,200 federal, state, and local elected officials, and a coalition of more than 35,000 businesses and over 500,000 fishing families publicly announcing their opposition to offshore oil and gas development in the Atlantic. The removal of the Mid-Atlantic from the final 2017-2022 OCS Lease Program was widely considered a victory not only for the environment, but also for clean coastal economies.

President Trump's order to revisit the five-year plan does not account for the robust public record detailing widespread economic and environmental objections to drilling in the Atlantic. Tourism along the Jersey Shore generates almost $40 billion each year and supports half a million jobs --including the fishing, boating, and recreational industries. Allowing offshore drilling would unnecessarily threaten the economies of the communities that rely on a thriving coastline. Fragile marine ecosystems and species would also be placed in danger of a potential future environmental disaster resulting from a blowout or other failure offshore. It is simply too great a risk to jeopardize these tremendous and unique economic and environmental resources.

There are also foreign policy and defense implications to allowing drilling in the Atlantic. For example, the Pentagon has been on record strongly opposed to potential drilling off the Atlantic coast because it could impact military maneuvers and the Navy's ability to defend our shores.

The costs and risks associated with drilling in the Atlantic are simply too high for New Jersey. Elected leaders on both sides of the aisle have long opposed any efforts to potentially open the Atlantic to oil and gas development. We strongly encourage you to stand on the side of environmental stakeholders, the recreational and commercial fishing industries, coastal businesses, elected leaders in both parties, coastal communities and the people of New Jersey in rejecting oil and gas development in the Atlantic.