New Jersey, Maryland Lawmakers Request VA Governor Hold Big Oil Accountable, Withdraw Offshore Drilling Support
May 10, 2010
Recently, Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Charlie Crist of Florida, both states with significant portions of the Nation’s coastline, withdrew their support for offshore drilling citing the recent oil spill and associated damage in the Gulf of Mexico as the reason for their decision.
“The case against offshore drilling and greater scrutiny of Big Oil builds every day,” said Pallone. “We continue to see oil spew into Gulf waters uncontrollably three weeks after the initial accident. Despite what the oil companies say, offshore drilling technology is neither advanced enough to prevent a spill from happening nor sophisticated enough to turn off the source of the oil flow. I urge Governor McDonnell to join the growing coalition of offshore drilling opponents.”
Senator Menendez said: “The disaster in the Gulf has made it clear that there is no such thing as a rig that is too safe to spill and that some spills cannot be easily contained. The Jersey Shore is too valuable to risk to drilling less than 100 miles away, and I am surprised the Governor of Virginia does not feel the same about Virginia Beach.”
Pallone on Thursday praised President Obama’s decision to halt the plan to put oil drills off the coast of Virginia and announced introducing the "No New Drilling" Act that would ban all new drilling in U.S. waters. In addition to California and Florida governors’ opposition to offshore drilling, governors of Maryland and New Jersey have also voiced opposition to it.
The letter to Governor McDonnell appears below.
May 10, 2010
The Honorable Robert F. McDonnell
Governor
Patrick Henry Building, 3rd Floor
1111 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Dear Governor McDonnell,
We write to you today to respectfully ask that you to reassess your position of support for drilling off the coast of Virginia. No rig, no matter how expensive or technologically advanced, is ever too safe to fail. Nothing makes that point clearer than the tragedy of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, fire, collapse, and ongoing spill.
As Senators and Representatives from Mid-Atlantic states, we are extremely concerned with the Administration’s position to expand exploration for oil and gas drilling. If an oil spill of the magnitude currently unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico occurred off the coast of Virginia, the coastal communities of multiple states on the Atlantic Ocean would be adversely affected. The ocean waters do not respect state borders and, as this spill in the Gulf of Mexico has shown us, neither would spilled oil.
Despite your public calls for revenue sharing, under current law all royalties from offshore drilling, including any activity off the coast of Virginia, would go to the federal government. Even if your state were to have access to a small percentage of royalties from offshore drilling, the potential catastrophic economic and environmental impacts of an oil spill on your coastal economy as well as our states’ coastal economies would far outweigh any potential benefits.
Further, we note that the Navy has also expressed opposition to drilling off the coast of Virginia. A spill would severely disrupt critical military training and testing operations that currently take place in this area. NASA has also expressed opposition to this plan, citing concerns that it could interfere with launches of satellites and low-altitude rockets from its facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.
Other Republican Governors, including Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Charlie Crist of Florida, have backed away from their previous support for offshore drilling. We urge you to follow in their leadership and reconsider your steadfast support for drilling off Virginia’s coast. The benefits simply do not justify the potential costs to your coast or to ours.
Sincerely,
ROBERT MENENDEZ FRANK PALLONE, JR. FRANK R. LAUTENBERG
United States Senator Member of Congress United States Senator
JOHN SARBANES ALBIO SIRES
Member of Congress Member of Congress
RUSH HOLT ELIJAH CUMMINGS
Member of Congress Member of Congress
STEVEN ROTHMAN DONALD PAYNE
Member of Congress Member of Congress