House votes would protect marine wildlife from drilling
Whales, turtles and other wildlife that call the ocean home would be safer from oil spills and other ecological harm under a pair of bills approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Whales, turtles and other wildlife that call the ocean home would be safer from oil spills and other ecological harm under a pair of bills approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.
On Sept. 11, Rep. Joe Cunningham’s (S.C.) Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act and Rep. Francis Rooney’s (Fla.) Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act, both passed the House with bipartisan support. The bills would block drilling off the coasts of the Atlantic, the Pacific and the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
“Whenever and wherever we drill, we put our marine life and our pristine beaches at risk of a toxic spill,” said Kelsey Lamp, Protect Our Oceans advocate for our national network. “In an era when renewable energy is on the rise, and our oceans are feeling the increasingly acute effects of global warming, we need our decision-makers to safeguard our waters.”
We’re urging the Senate to vote on and pass the bills.
Photo: The U.S. House of Representatives passed a pair of bills that would protect ocean wildlife from offshore drilling. Credit: Georgia Department of Natural Resources NOAA Permit #15488
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