Jersey Priorities

After Zinke Closed Door Meeting with NJ Republicans on Offshore Drilling, Pallone asks for Meeting with Democrats

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2018


Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) called on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to meet with New Jersey Democratic Members of Congress about the Trump administration’s sweeping offshore drilling plan that has received bipartisan criticism across the state. The request comes after Secretary Zinke met with Republican members of the New Jersey Congressional delegation without extending an invitation to Democrats. Pallone also asked Zinke to respond to to his letter asking the Interior Secretary to come to New Jersey and meet with citizens who would be affected by offshore drilling.

“While it appears that Secretary Zinke made certain promises to NJ Republicans, we need greater transparency and clarity when it comes to the Trump administration’s plans for offshore drilling,” said Pallone. “The administration’s environmental record has been a disaster and vague statements made behind closed doors will do little to ease the fears of New Jerseyans over offshore drilling.”

The text of the letter can be found below and the letter is also attached.

March 26, 2018

The Honorable Ryan Zinke
Secretary
United States Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240


Dear Secretary Zinke:

I write to request that you meet with the New Jersey’s Congressional Democrats to outline the Administration’s plans for implementing the 2019-2024 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program.

According to multiple media reports, you met with Republican members of the New Jersey Congressional delegation on February 27th to discuss the Administration’s offshore leasing plans. The New Jersey Congressional Delegation is unified in its opposition to the Administration’s proposed OCS leasing program and all members would benefit from greater insight into your thinking. A frank and direct conversation on this important matter will promote transparency and help ensure the voices of those we represent are heard by the Administration, and I urge you to work expeditiously to schedule a meeting to discuss this issue with the Democratic members of the delegation.

On a related note, I would like to follow up with you regarding a January 11, 2018 invitation to personally visit New Jersey to meet with the Governor, lawmakers, and constituents who would be impacted by the 2019-2024 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program. I have not received a response from your office on this matter. As you know, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a public meeting in New Jersey on February 14, 2018. While constituents from across the state came to voice their opposition to the OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019-2024, there was no opportunity to submit verbal testimony. In light of the large scope of the proposed program and the tremendous local risks associated with the program, I again ask that you schedule a Secretarial visit and afford the people of New Jersey the opportunity to share their views at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for your consideration of these requests. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,




FRANK PALLONE, JR.
Member of Congress

Pallone Blasts Reported Trump Administration Plans to Expand Offshore Drilling

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 7, 2017


Washington, D.C. –Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) issued the following statement today after reports that the Trump administration is planning an executive order seeking an expansion of drilling off the U.S. coastline.

“The Trump administration’s reported plans to expand offshore drilling is just the latest development in its dangerous and reckless anti-environment agenda that threatens the future of our environment and New Jersey’s coast.

“Oil spills don’t respect state borders. The fact remains that opening up the Atlantic Ocean for fossil fuel development is unnecessary, poses a serious threat to our coastal communities, and is the wrong approach. An oil spill anywhere along the Atlantic Coast would cause severe environmental damage to fisheries, popular beaches and wildlife – which is why members of both parties have stood up against proposals to expand coastal drilling.”

Rep. Pallone has been a longtime leader in the fight to protect the Atlantic coast, sponsoring legislation since 2010 to prevent expansions of offshore drilling. Pallone wrote to the Secretary of the Interior in 2010 voicing strong opposition to a plan to enable drilling in the Atlantic. He did this even before the Deepwater Horizon disaster brought offshore drilling to the forefront of the news.

Pallone was a leader in the fight to remove a dangerous provision from the Obama Administration’s 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program that would have authorized new offshore oil and gas leasing along the southern Atlantic coast. And in December, after Pallone led a letter signed by 73 of his colleagues urging a permanent ban to coastal drilling along the Artic and Atlantic coasts, President Obama exercised his authority to do just that – permanently banning offshore drilling in deep water canyons from Virginia to New England, including off the New Jersey coast, and in much of the Arctic Ocean.

Pallone: Shell Withdrawal from Arctic Oil and Gas Exploration Shows Offshore Drilling Should Not be a Part of U.S. Energy Future

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, expressed his support for the decision by Royal Dutch Shell to stop offshore oil and gas exploration in the Arctic.

“The move by Shell to cease exploration for oil in the Arctic is the latest example that offshore oil and gas drilling is a bad investment that should not be a part of our country’s energy future,” said Congressman Pallone. “Five years after the Deepwater Horizon Spill, we’ve witnessed the detrimental and lasting environmental and economic damage that can be done by an oil spill. We are clearly at a point when we must not expand drilling off our coasts.”

Pallone introduced a bill earlier this year with Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to ban offshore drilling in the Atlantic Ocean. The Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism (COAST) Anti-Drilling Act prohibits the Department of the Interior from issuing any lease for the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas in the North, Mid-, or South Atlantic Planning Areas. The Obama Administration earlier this year included areas from Virginia to Georgia in its Draft 2017-2022 Five-Year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. As the Deepwater Horizon spill clearly showed, oil spills do not respect state borders, and the proposed drilling would be a direct threat to New Jersey’s coastal communities and industries.

He has also consistently combatted efforts for seismic testing for oil and gas off in the Atlantic Ocean. Most recently, he and Senator Menendez sent a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in opposition to proposed oil and gas geophysical survey activity, including seismic testing, in the Atlantic Ocean.