Why Democrats say the NJ, Atlantic coast is under threat from oil and gas drilling

LONG BRANCH — Two New Jersey Democrats are renewing a call for Congress to permanently ban offshore oil and gas drilling in the Atlantic ocean.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. are urging Congress to support the Clean Ocean and Safe Tourism, or COAST, Anti-Drilling Act, which would permanently block the federal Department of Interior from issuing leases to explore, develop or produce oil or gas along the Atlantic Coast.

The bill was first introduced in 2015 but has so far failed to be signed into law.

At the event on Monday in Long Branch, Booker and Pallone said the anti-drilling act would protect New Jersey and other Eastern Seaboard states from drilling-related oil spills, like those that have ravaged coasts along the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska and California.

"This is going to take a persistent, unyielding, determined… fight to continue to protect New Jersey's coastline," Booker said during the Long Branch event, which was not open to the public.

Pallone said Republicans in Washington are pushing to open up the Atlantic ocean to oil and gas exploration and drilling.

A bill known as H.R. 1, or the "Lower Energy Costs Act," would "expedite energy projects, eliminate… fees related to the development of federal energy resources, and eliminate certain funds that provide incentives to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases," according to the bill's summary.

The bill would also wave environmental review requirements for projects, block the president from declaring a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, and limit the White House and federal agencies from restricting or delaying energy development.

The bill has no cosponsors from New Jersey, but has 49 cosponsors from other states.

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Booker said reliance on oil and gas, as well as changing climate conditions and pollution, are serious threats to the oceans and New Jersey's shore communities.

"It is not hyperbole to say that this is causing our house to be on fire, and we have been supplying the matches," he said.

A fight over the future of the Atlantic coast is dividing Congress, where supporters of offshore wind development, like Booker and Pallone, call for moratoriums on oil and gas drilling while their opponents call for moratoriums on offshore wind development.

Rep Chris Smith, a Republican representing New Jersey's 4th Congressional District, which includes parts of Monmouth and Ocean counties, has called for a moratorium on offshore wind, saying noise from preconstruction work and driving wind turbine supports into the seafloor will affect marine life.

"The offshore wind industrialization approval process has left unaddressed and unanswered numerous serious questions concerning the potentially harmful environmental impact on marine life and the ecosystems that currently allow all sea creatures great and small to thrive," he said last month during a House debate on the issue.

Like Smith, Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District also called for a moratorium on offshore wind development.

HR 1 has passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives on March 30, but is less likely to pass the Senate, where Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents have a 51-49 majority over Republicans.

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ Democrats want to ban oil and gas drilling on NJ, Atlantic coast