Rep. Huffman Blasts Trump’s Irresponsible Offshore Drilling Expansion

January 04, 2018

Washington, D.C.- Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) slammed the Trump administration’s proposal to allow a dangerous oil drilling spree off the coast of California, as well as across American waters in the Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, and Gulf of Mexico.

“Secretary Zinke’s announcement today confirms that the Trump administration is hell-bent on trampling the public interest and further lining the pockets of Big Oil at the expense of clean air, clean water, and the health of the American people,” said Rep. Huffman.  “Californians will never let this happen.  Our state has shown that we can have a growing economy along with environmental protections, and we have made it very clear, again and again, that we do not want to put our fisheries, our beaches, or our coastal economies at risk just to enrich the fossil fuel industry.  The bottom line is that offshore drilling means oil spills, and the risk is even higher now that the Trump administration is weakening offshore safety rules. This reckless proposal for a new offshore drilling spree should face widespread, bipartisan opposition. We’ll fight them in Congress, on the beaches, in the courts, and at the ballot box.  I’m confident we’ll defeat this dangerous plan.”

Rep. Huffman has led the fight against offshore drilling in Congress, authoring the West Coast Protection Act to prohibit any new oil and gas drilling off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington. He also joined with fellow California Representatives Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-San Pedro) and Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) in leading a letter with 36 colleagues opposing new Pacific Ocean lease sales in the Trump administration’s offshore drilling plans. All three West Coast Governors, as well as all six West Coast Senators, oppose new Pacific lease sales, and every Democratic congressional representative from a coastal district in Washington, Oregon, and California has cosponsored Rep. Huffman’s West Coast Protection Act.

Rep. Huffman is also the author of the Stop Arctic Ocean Drilling Act, which has been cosponsored by 60 members of the House of Representatives. He recently led 69 members of Congress in urging Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to protect the Arctic Ocean from dangerous activities by the oil & gas industry and to exclude all new Arctic Ocean lease sales from any future offshore drilling plan. 

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