Jersey Shore Towns Oppose Offshore Drilling

Two Jersey Shore towns are stepping up in the fight to stop the Trump administration from allowing oil drilling off the Atlantic coast.

The Point Pleasant Beach Council unanimously approved a resolution this past week to oppose a federal proposal to explore for oil and natural gas off the East Coast, according to The Ocean Star.

“In our community, because of the fishing industry and because of how reliant we are on tourism and because of the potential of environmental risks for some sort of spill like Deep Water Horizon,” Councilman Paul Kanitra said in The Ocean Star report.

The vote came days after the Manasquan Borough Council also approved a resolution opposing offshore drilling, according to The Coast Star. The resolution, No. 40-2018, was approved unanimously.

The Manasquan council also heard comment from members of the public, including Mary Ryan, president of the Manasquan Beach Improvement Association, and Bob Duerr, president of the Manasquan Board Riders Club, according to the report. Duerr said the proposed federal plan should be a “wakeup call to all those who cherish this coastline.”

Earlier this month, the Trump administration exempted Florida from its plans to open the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to oil and gas drilling. But the Jersey Shore and its tourism industry won't get the same break.

The U.S. Interior Department announced that it would exclude Florida and cited the potential impact on the Sunshine State's tourism industry. Despite tourism have impact on the entire coast's economy, however, the decision left the rest of nearly all U.S. waters, including the Atlantic, open to offshore drilling.

In a statement, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said President Trump, who owns the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, directed him to rebuild the offshore oil and gas program "in a manner that supports our national energy policy and also takes into consideration the local and state voice."

"Florida is unique and its coast is heavily reliant on tourism as an economic driver," Zinke said. "As a result of today's discussion and Gov. (Rick) Scott's leadership, I am removing Florida from consideration for any new oil and gas platforms."

The decision drew criticism from New Jersey leaders, all of whom – Republican and Democrat – universally oppose drilling off the Jersey Shore. Coastal leaders and environmentalists believe a spill anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean would cause environmental damage all along the coast.

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Middlesex, Monmouth, said Trump administration "is correct" in concluding that offshore drilling could have a devastating impact on Florida's tourism industry and coastal economy.
But he called the decision to protect only Florida "reckless, arbitrary and harmful."

"It inexplicably fails to see the same risks for numerous other states with thriving coastal economies, including New Jersey," Pallone said. "In its politically motivated effort to protect only Florida, the Trump Administration forgets one of the key lessons from the Deepwater Horizon spill: oil spills do not respect state borders."

Point Pleasant Beach photo