'The last thing we need is an oil spill': Pallone says ban Atlantic offshore drilling

ASBURY PARK - With the Atlantic Ocean behind him and flanked by several environmental groups, state legislators and the state's environmental commissioner, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., announced his intent to reintroduce a bill that would permanently ban offshore drilling for oil and gas on the Atlantic Coast.

Called the Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism Anti-Drilling Act, or COAST Act, it would prohibit the U.S. Department of Interior from issuing leases for the exploration, development, or production of oil or gas along the entire U.S Atlantic Coast, including the Straits of Florida.

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Pallone first introduced the bill in 2019 but failed to get it enacted. He said the COAST Act will be heard Thursday in the House Committee on Natural Resources, which he said has jurisdiction over offshore gas and oil drilling.

The bill is part of a larger plan with bipartisan support, according to Pallone, to permanently ban offshore oil and gas in U.S. federal waters in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico that is being led by other legislatures.

"We think that we have a good chance because we do have a president, who by his actions, President (Joe) Biden has indicated his opposition to offshore oil and gas drilling," Pallone said.

Pallone said the COAST Act has bipartisan support among New Jersey's Congressional delegation, stating that Republicans Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew are cosponsors.

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At the moment offshore oil and gas drilling is banned on the coast here, part of former President Barack Obama's 2016 ban of new oil and gas drilling in federal waters through a five-year plan that will expire in 2022.

Former President Donald Trump attempted to lift that restriction with a plan to open 90% of the continental shelf to drilling for fossil fuels, which was welcomed by the oil and gas industry but raised alarm among environmentalists. The plan was blocked by federal court order in 2019, which restored Obama-era restrictions.

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Pallone said an oil spill off the Atlantic Coast would be devastating to coastal communities in New Jersey and up and down the Atlantic.

"Tourism season is here, the last thing we need is an oil spill," Pallone said.

According to figures that he provided, the Jersey Shore is home to over $700 billion in coastal properties, and the tourism industry generates almost half a million jobs, nearly 10% of New Jersey’s entire workforce. New Jersey’s commercial fishing industry generates over $7.9 billion annually, supporting over 50,000 jobs.

Department of Environmental Protection Acting Commissioner Shawn LaTourette, who attended the press conference held at the Asbury Park boardwalk, said the future is clean electric energy.

"There is no better way to protect our coastal resources than to say no to practices that we know belong to the past," LaTourette said, referring to drilling for fossil fuels.

Environmental groups including Clean Ocean Action, Surfrider Foundation, Americal Littoral Society and Environment New Jersey, which have long opposed oil and gas drilling are backing the COAST Act.

"For 37 years we've tried to block one way or another offshore oil and gas drilling," said Cindy Zipf, Clean Ocean Action's executive director. "It's a tradition I will gladly leave behind once we get this bill past."

If the COAST Act does not pass, Pallone said he would continue to push forward the legislation for five-year bans.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: 'The last thing we need is an oil spill': Pallone says ban Atlantic offshore drilling

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