Date : Thu, 12 Mar 2015 17:03:31 -0400
For Immediate Release
March 12, 2015
Contact Jeff Tittel 609-558-9100
BOEM Meeting Coming Up to Address Drilling in the Atlantic
The Bureau of Ocean Energy and Management (BOEM) will hold a scoping meeting this Wednesday in Atlantic City for the proposal to drill oil off the Mid-Atlantic Ocean. The meetings purpose is to address the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program proposed by the Obama Administration. The scoping meeting is not a hearing and will not allow public testimonies. We are concerned that areas from Georgia to Virginia could be opened up to offshore drilling, putting the New Jersey coast at risk.
"This proposal puts our coast at risk. Drilling up to the Maryland border will put oil wells 100 miles from our beaches. Given the prevailing currents, any spill there would threaten our beaches. This proposal is shortsighted because of the potential for a little bit of oil could jeopardize our coast, our fisheries and our tourism industry," said Jeff Tittel, Director of The New Jersey Sierra Club." New Jersey's coastal economy is just starting to come back from Hurricane Sandy. We need off shore drilling, like we need another hurricane."
"BOEM is having an open house and not a hearing to try to blunt the public from speaking out against this terrible proposal. This is more of a dog and pony show with people standing around answering questions without the public actually having a hearing. They are trying to manage us from speaking up against drilling off our coast. The public should be there to tell BOEM we want a real hearing and that we don't want drilling off our coast," said Tittel.
The Atlantic Coast to oil exploration could make drilling off our coast a reality. Drilling off the coast of Virginia less than 100 miles from New Jersey's coasts will pose a threat to New Jersey because Shell Oil Company has said it plans to run a pipeline through our state's waters. Since they have not strengthened the regulations for off shore drilling the likelihood of a disaster off our coast is very real. Sierra Club's Don't Rig Our Coastal Economy report found that New Jersey's coastal tourism industry supports nearly 500,000 jobs, and one out of every six of the state's jobs are linked in some form to its shoreline. Visits to the area generate $16.6 billion in wages and add $5.5 billion to the state's tax coffers.
The Atlantic City meeting is one of 23 public meetings in the proposed action regions along the coast of Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean. The "open house" program includes information tables and allows BOEM staff to answer questions about the process and leasing activities. Participants may submit written or electronic comments, however, no oral testimonies will be provided, limiting the fair process of public input.
"This proposal undermines President Obama's work on climate change. Drilling off our coast will add even more greenhouse gas emissions to our atmosphere. We are disappointed with President Obama regarding the proposal for drilling off the mid-Atlantic, which puts our coasts at risk. The President still opposes the Keystone XL Pipeline, but this is just as bad for our region and for our coast. We are concerned that the fossil fools in Congress would drill off all our coasts including right off the coast of New Jersey," stated Tittel.
If an oil spill where to occur off our coast it would have significant impacts on the tourism sector. During the summer of 1988 when medical waste washed up onto a 50-mile stretch of New Jersey's shore, tourism dropped off significantly and the area directly lost at least $1 billion in revenue. An oil spill off the coast of New Jersey could trigger an even more dramatic decline in tourism.
"One quart of oil pollutes a million gallons of water, but the only oil we want to see on our beaches in sun tan oil. We cannot trust Big Oil with our energy future. Even if the odds were one in a million, it's not worth the risk to our economy and to our environment. We cannot drill ourselves into energy independence. We have to explore new technologies for wind and wave power and remove obstacles that stand in the way of clean energy," said Tittel.
Instead of drilling off our coast we should end the billions in subsidies for big oil and use that money for clean energy. Oil companies are making billions of dollars in profit at the expense of our environment and our wallets. This is from the Drill baby Drill crowd, which is really Spill Baby Spill crowd who rather expedite offshore drilling instead of investing in clean energy.
Drilling in the mid-Atlantic could necessitate more pipelines being built off our coast to bring the oil to New Jersey refineries as well. An oil spill would not only affect our beaches and tourism, but our fisheries as well. New Jersey has a multi-billion dollar fishing industry in Cape May in particular, which would the area that would be most at risk. Not only does this put our coast at risk, but it undermines renewable energy and growing our green energy economy.
"If they drill off our coast they would also be taking that oil to South Jersey or Bayway refineries. Pipelines and oil tankers would also put our coast at risk. Offshore drilling is not worth the risk when we can be investing in renewable and offshore wind. The choice is ours whether we want wind mills off our coast or oil rigs. We shouldn't be fossil foolish with our coasts. We need to say no to off shore drilling. Instead we want windmills, with the only oil we want to see on our beaches is suntan oil," said Jeff Tittel.
The details of the BOEM meeting are as follows:
When: March 18, 2015
Where: Sheraton Atlantic City
2 Convention Blvd, Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Time: 3:00PM- 7:00PM