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Jersey Senators Help Thwart Offshore Drilling 100 Miles from Coast

D.C. | 16 weeks 20 hours ago | Comments 7

By Herald Staff

WASHINGTON – During the March 13 Senate debate on the nation’s budget, U.S. Sens. Bob Menendez and Frank Lautenberg (both D-NJ) “helped beat back a threat to the environment and economy of the Jersey Shore,” according to a release.

The senators helped lead the effort to defeat an amendment offered by Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) that would have paved the way for drilling off the coast of Virginia, which includes areas less than 100 miles from the Jersey Shore – close enough for spills to affect New Jersey beaches.

“The environment and economy of the Jersey Shore would have been directly threatened by this plan, so we stood up against it,” said Menendez.

“It was a reckless plan to feed our nation’s addiction to oil that posed not only short-term threats but also could have led us down a slippery slope that ends in drilling up and down the east coast. This problem arises because we are relying exclusively on oil. Instead, we need to become a more energy efficient nation and we need to develop alternative fuels. This was an important victory for New Jersey in the Senate today,” he added.

“Drilling so close to the New Jersey shoreline is no solution to our nation’s energy crisis. Oil drilling would threaten the natural beauty and health of our shores and wildlife, as well as the millions of people who live and work nearby. We need to put New Jersey ahead of the interests of Big Oil,” stated Lautenberg.

“Senators Menendez and Lautenberg have again shown great leadership in protecting our shores from the devastating impacts of oil exploration along our coasts,” said Athan Manuel, Sierra Club director of Lands Protection. “Whether one is talking about wildlife or vacationers, beaches and oil simply do not mix.”

Menendez and Lautenberg helped lead the effort to persuade colleagues to oppose the Alexander amendment and organized a group of major environmental groups to work against it. The amendment was defeated by a 47-51 vote.

Print | Email Updated 16 weeks 20 hours ago

Comments (7)

We welcome your thoughts, stories and information related to this article.

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Wed, 06/18/2008 - 11:04pm

Good. Offshore drilling is a sham.

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Mon, 04/28/2008 - 10:02pm

I'll remember Sens. Bob Menendez and Frank Lautenberg (both D-NJ idiots) when voting against Lautenberg in November. Everytime I fill up my gas tank I think of both of these idiots. Can we send someone except Mr Stupid to Washington? We, the USA need energy. Yes, I know that there is pie in the sky with windmills and such but today, we need oil. Lets think about windmills and hydrogen when they actually exist.

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Wed, 04/02/2008 - 9:50am

Hundreds of oils platforms in the gulf of Mexico and Florida Al. , LA and Texas have no problem with beaches or Tourism.

There is 5-6 Wind Turbines in Atlantic City (on land) and you really can't see them eevn from 3 miles away why would anyone care if we have 100's of them out 10 miles in the ocean.
even if they are closer who cares I would think they would look cool and looking at them would remind me that we are making progress in conserving.

The Answer is Nuclear

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Tue, 03/18/2008 - 12:11pm

The Gulf Coast states have much more tourism then NJ,yet it has not suffered at all from offshore drilling.When someone comes along and offers an alternative like offshore wind farms the same people that oppose drilling cry about wind farms.Millions of barrels of crude oil are transfered from tankers to barges every year at Bigstone anchorage just 10 miles out in the Delaware Bay and their have been no problems.Offshore drilling would help lower fuel prices,reduce dependence on OPEC,create many good paying jobs,and create fish havens that would help NJ tourism.The only negative is the remote chance their might be a spill.The left wing politicians and so-called environmentalist have ruined this once great state.I cant wait to retire and move to a normal state.

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Mon, 03/17/2008 - 8:15am

Please note: Nov. 28, 2000: Mississippi River south of New Orleans: oil tanker Westchester lost power and ran aground near Port Sulphur, La., dumping 567,000 gallons of crude oil into lower Mississippi. Spill was largest in U.S. waters since Exxon Valdez disaster in March 1989.

By strongly encouraging energy companies to turn away from oil, we will eventually create reliable and efficient alternative energy sources that develop economies of scale and create jobs, and lower energy and fuel costs, all without the risks associated with our dependency upon oil. The last thing we need in New Jersey is an accident like the one witnessed in the Prince William Sound via Exxon Valdez, or the estimated 7 million gallons spilled during Katrina.

See this site for other related disasters: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001451.html

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Sat, 03/15/2008 - 11:38am

We might have pristine shores. But without the tourist trade, wer'e done! Who is going to come down here when gas prices are out of reach for the average citizen. Our property taxes, food prices, etc. will skyrocket. We have the oil reserves to be independent for many years to come. There has been drilling in the Gulf of Mexico for decades without major oil spills. There will come a day when we will be begging the government to allow drilling. Until then we just suck it up.

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Fri, 03/14/2008 - 8:04am

typical half-wit actions on the part of the new left know-nothings.continue to pay high gas prices while cheerfully re-electing jerks like these two.

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