A.G. Gancarski
On Thursday, over 100 Congress members, many from Florida, signed off on a letter to the Department of the Interior opposing Atlantic Ocean seismic testing.
In April, the Trump Administration announced that it is considering opening the Outer Continental Shelf Planning Areas to oil and gas exploration and drilling, via seismic testing
Even for Congressmen like John Rutherford, a stalwart Trump supporter, seismic testing is a bridge too far.
Congressman Rutherford said, “Traveling through my district I have heard from countless business owners and residents along the North Florida coasts who are concerned about the risks of seismic testing to our healthy ocean fisheries. While future offshore drilling activities in the Atlantic would put our communities at risk down the road, seismic testing threatens our fragile coastal economies today. Our coastal economy should not be put at undue risk at a time when our booming oil and gas production is more than enough to meet our current energy needs.”
The letter asserts that the “decision to move forward with permits for seismic airgun surveys for subsea oil and gas deposits puts at risk the vibrant Atlantic Coast economies dependent on healthy ocean ecosystems.”
The letter also notes that information obtained from seismic surveys is proprietary to the oil and gas industry, with even Congress restricted from the information.
Rutherford was not the only Florida signatory to the letter.
Joining him: Reps. Ted Yoho, Alcee Hastings, Dennis Ross, Francis Rooney, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Ron DeSantis, Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, Al Lawson, Stephanie Murphy, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Fredrica Wilson.
