By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times
Republican and Democratic figures from New Jersey released statements Wednesday declaiming President Barack Obama's plan to allow offshore drilling along the Eastern Seaboard in an effort to decrease the United States dependency on foreign oil.
Gov. Christie and U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg join organizations such as The Chesapeake Bay Foundation who oppose the President's decision.
In a statement, Governor Christie said New Jersey's coastline "is one of our economic engines" and said he had both economic and environmental safety concerns. The CBF's president, Will Baker said his opposition to the President's decision is out of concern for the blue crab species which could be endangered by oil drilling off the Virginia coast.
The Virginia coast is as much a part of the bay ecosystem as the rivers that feed the Chesapeake. Offshore drilling could endanger crabs, according to Baker, as they float near offshore waters. The crabs cannot escape spills which could destroy a years worth of crab supply thus threatening the livelihoods of fisherman.
Baker told USA Today that Obama's executive order last year calls for a strategy to cut bay pollution and offshore drilling is a new pollution source capable of "devastating damage."
Menendez said the administration should be focused on renewable energy sources and called Obama's plan "fundamentally wrong as an energy policy."
President Obama anticipated large opposition, but pledged that it will be done "in ways that balance the need to harness domestic energy resources and the need to protect America's natural resources."
Click here for more on this article
The Black Urban Times
Republican and Democratic figures from New Jersey released statements Wednesday declaiming President Barack Obama's plan to allow offshore drilling along the Eastern Seaboard in an effort to decrease the United States dependency on foreign oil.
Gov. Christie and U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg join organizations such as The Chesapeake Bay Foundation who oppose the President's decision.
In a statement, Governor Christie said New Jersey's coastline "is one of our economic engines" and said he had both economic and environmental safety concerns. The CBF's president, Will Baker said his opposition to the President's decision is out of concern for the blue crab species which could be endangered by oil drilling off the Virginia coast.
The Virginia coast is as much a part of the bay ecosystem as the rivers that feed the Chesapeake. Offshore drilling could endanger crabs, according to Baker, as they float near offshore waters. The crabs cannot escape spills which could destroy a years worth of crab supply thus threatening the livelihoods of fisherman.
Baker told USA Today that Obama's executive order last year calls for a strategy to cut bay pollution and offshore drilling is a new pollution source capable of "devastating damage."
Menendez said the administration should be focused on renewable energy sources and called Obama's plan "fundamentally wrong as an energy policy."
President Obama anticipated large opposition, but pledged that it will be done "in ways that balance the need to harness domestic energy resources and the need to protect America's natural resources."
Click here for more on this article
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