Protect the Oregon Coast
Overview | Fact Sheet |
What's New
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on June 29, 2006 to allow oil and gas drilling off America's coasts. Oregon Representatives Peter DeFazio and Greg Walden both voted in favor of the measure, which would open areas off the Oregon coast; the rest of the Oregon delegation voted against. Congressman DeFazio's vote in particular is incredibly disappointing.
The House passed the Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act (H.R.4761), ending the 25 year bipartisan moratorium that has kept in check expansion of offshore drilling. Having upheld the moratorium in a May 18 vote on the FY 2007 Interior Appropriations bill, the House reversed itself today. Oil and gas drilling threatens to destroy a way of life in America's coastal communities.
In May, the House rejected opening our coasts to natural gas drilling as close as three miles offshore. Today's bill could result in both gas and oil drilling as close as three miles offshore if a state approves of it. States would have to jump through multiple hoops every five years to keep drilling 50 miles off their coast and would have no say on whether drilling could occur 100 miles offshore. In addition, the bill drills a $3 billion hole in the federal treasury in the first ten years by setting up a program for sharing oil and gas revenues with coastal states if they approve drilling.
The bill offers no solutions to our country's energy problems and continues an emphasis on drilling even though the country, and Oregon, have much better solutions at their disposal. Energy efficiency and new renewable energy sources would both provide faster and cheaper solutions to America's energy problems. The public deserves real solutions that use American technology and know-how to save energy by improving the gas mileage of our cars and SUVs and developing clean, renewable energy, including Oregon's abundant wind and solar power. Congress should stop wasting time finding more handouts for Big Oil and start taking serious steps to make our cars and trucks go farther on a gallon of gas.
Click here to view pictures of the Oregon Coast submitted by our e-mail activists.
Background
For generations, Oregon residents and visitors have spent time on the coast to fish, camp, walk on the beach and go whale watching. It is also the backbone of our coastal communities, home to over half a million Oregonians and important businesses like outdoor recreation, tourism and commercial fishing. Providing critical habitat, the Oregon Coast is home to over 120 Species of Seabirds, 2,000 Stellar Sea Lions, over 200 species off fish and about 17,000 Grey Whales who migrate up the Oregon Coast every year.
Oregonians have a strong history of protecting the Coast. In 1973, Governor Tom McCall declared every mile of beach the property of the people of Oregon. And in response to a disastrous oil spill thirty years ago off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., Oregon enacted a ban on all drilling in state waters.
But that state ban on drilling in state waters expired in 1995, and under pressure from the oil and gas industries, Congress has now weakened the federal moratorium on offshore exploration and drilling, requiring an inventory of possible offshore drilling sites in places previously protected from such exploration.
Oil and gas exploration and drilling threaten the environment and the communities that rely on the coast for their livelihood:
• Offshore drilling activities produce a steady stream of pollution which destroy kelp beds, coral gardens and coastal wetlands
• A single offshore rig can drill between 50 and 100 wells, each dumping 25,000 pounds of toxic metals such as lead, chromium and mercury, and potent carcinogens like toluene, benzene and xylene, into the ocean
• A single oil rig, over its lifespan, can pollute the air as much as 7,000 cars each driving 50 miles per day
• Spills and accidents threaten fish, sea lions, whales and shorebirds.
Now is the time to act to protect the Oregon coast. We’re calling on Oregon’s Governor and congressional delegation to stand up for the Oregon coast by renewing the state offshore drilling ban, and defending the federal coastal protections.
Click here to view our fact sheet.
