U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. applauded President Joe Biden’s administration’s 2023-2028 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which does not include drilling leases along the Atlantic Coast.
There is a 60-day waiting period before the plan is finalized. During the waiting period, Pallone (D-6th Dist.) will advocate for the Biden administration to formally adopt the plan.
Pallone sent a letter to the Biden administration last month requesting that it not include new offshore leasing sales in the program. Congressional Republicans and multinational oil companies have long sought to use the leasing program to open billions of acres along the Atlantic Coast to drilling.
“I’m pleased that the Biden administration has refused to let Big Oil trade the vitality of the Jersey Shore and our coastal communities along the Atlantic Coast for another big payday,” he said in a grandiose political soundbite.
“Offshore oil and gas energy development is dangerous. It requires seismic testing at high levels we know is harmful to marine life, and the spills this development generates can cause irreversible damage to ocean ecosystems.”
Pallone offered a push for clean energy alternatives, too.
“There’s simply no reason to put our oceans at risk as we transition to renewable energy and invest in new, good-paying jobs right here at home,” he said. “This plan will help us move forward with the development of renewable energy so that we limit fossil fuel emissions and the worst effects of the climate crisis.”
