Home | WebMail | Register or Login

      Calgary | Regions | Local Traffic Report | Advertise on Action News | Contact

Sign Up

Sign Up

Please fill this form to create an account.

Already have an account? Login here.

Posted: 2018-03-07T08:02:46Z | Updated: 2018-03-07T15:37:06Z

WASHINGTON The Trump administration s proposal to open up nearly all U.S. waters to oil and gas development threatens more than 2.5 million jobs and roughly $180 billion in gross domestic product in coastal states, according to an economic review by ocean conservation nonprofit Oceana.

The new analysis of fishing, tourism and recreation industry data comes in response to the administrations sweeping offshore drilling plan aimed at opening huge swaths of the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific oceans to oil exploration. The proposal, part of an ongoing energy dominance agenda, makes available for lease roughly 90 percent of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.

Diane Hoskins, a campaign director at Oceana, said the main takeaway from the review is that expanding offshore drilling is not worth the risks this activity would pose to coastal communities that rely on clean, healthy oceans.

Its time for [Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke] and Washington to listen to the millions of Americans who already made their voices heard on this issue, she said. Theyre overwhelmingly saying no to drilling off their coasts. And these numbers make it clear just how much is at stake.

Take, for example, Massachusetts, where commercial fishing, tourism and ocean recreation support 110,000 jobs, according to Oceana. State lawmakers there are among those urging the administration to abandon its offshore plans , noting the states marine economy generated more than $17.3 billion in 2015.

This puts at risk our economy, our vibrant and historic fishing industry, our tourism industry. It, of course, puts at risk our many thousands of miles of coastline in Massachusetts, state Attorney General Maura Healey told reporters at an event in Washington, D.C., late last month. We know the devastation, having seen one too many oil spills.