United Voices Declare, “Not in Our Ocean, Not on Our Watch!”
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| Hundreds of Citizens turned out for the 2:30pm Press Conference |
On Wednesday, February 14, 250 citizens representing NJ’s leading environmental, fishing, business, and public interest organizations, along with Jersey Shore advocates rallied and testified at a press conference and Citizen’s Hearing to reject President Trump’s offshore oil and gas plan which opens 90% of US ocean waters to within 3 miles of beaches. The event coincided with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) Public Meeting held in an adjacent room. Citizens brought signs, cheered and spoke to show “Ocean Emotion” at the Valentine’s Day event, packing the Anti-Offshore Oil Coalition’s Advocacy Room.
Kicking off the press conference was a host of NJ state legislators who were amplified by Governor Murphy, First Lady Tammy Murphy, US Senators Menendez and Booker, and US Representatives Pallone and Smith. State representatives also included Assembly Members Pinkin and Zwicken. This was the first time FaceTime connected leaders to a real time ocean action rally in NJ.
See below for Press Conference Highlights.
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| Assemblywoman Nancy J. Pinkin |
“In New
Jersey, almost all democrats and republicans are opposed to offshore
drilling.”
- Nancy J. Pinkin, Assemblywoman, Chair of the Assembly Environment
Committee
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| Assemblywoman JoAnn Downey |
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| Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker |
“I spent my whole career as a physicist working on alternative energy. It’s clear what you just heard. The future is in renewables. There is no future in fossil fuels and if we want to make America first not last, it is up to us. We need to become leaders in renewable energy and environmental protection.” - Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker, Chair, Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
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| Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling |
“We have to let those in Washington know that we aren’t going to back down and let this happen.” - Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling, 11th District
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| NJ Governor Phil Murphy via Facetime |
Governor Phil
Murphy, First Lady Tammy Murphy, Congressman Frank Pallone, Congressman Chris
Smith, Senator Bob Menendez and Senator Cory Booker, who were unable to attend,
joined the rally via Facetime to voice their bi-partisan opposition to the plan
and cheer on citizens for choosing to spend their Valentine’s Day expressing
their love for the ocean and the Jersey Shore.
“I am proud
to stand with you all and Senators Booker and Menendez, Congressman Pallone and
others to say to the Trump administration, you will NOT drill off our precious
shores!” – NJ Governor Phil Murphy |
| NJ First Lady Tammy Murphy |
“President Trump’s plan to open our coast to drilling is the greatest threat the shore has ever faced. It is backwards thinking. We need renewable resources to combat climate change, not more fossil fuels to contribute to climate change and this is the direction we are taking in New Jersey.” – NJ First Lady Tammy Murphy
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| Congressman Frank Pallone |
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| Senator Bob Menendez & Senator Cory Booker |
“If you drill then you’re going to spill and
we cannot afford a spill along our beautiful shoreline. We cannot afford the
damage to our recreational and commercial fishing. We cannot afford to damage
our property values. We cannot afford to damage the legacy that New Jersey-ians
and people across the country have to enjoy at the Jersey shore. It is our
birth right as New Jersey-ians to have a clean ocean. We invite Zinke to come
to New Jersey and come down the shore and have a real hearing. To Cindy and all
of you at Clean Ocean Action, we are going to get our message across and we are
going to persist in getting a real hearing because we know what is at stake. We
are not going to let them drill off our shore and we are going to do everything
we can. We have a record number of co-sponsors in my legislation, the COAST
Anti-Drilling Act, which has a permanent ban on drilling. The entire delegation
has written to the administration opposing the drilling plan and we won’t stop
until they stop.” - Senator Bob Menendez
“Happy Valentine’s Day and for all the people who love our environment, who love a clean ocean, who love the greatness of New Jersey: this is a day that we show our love, we don’t talk about our love. As Dr. Cornel West has said, ‘Love often involves fighting for justice and justice is what love looks like in public.’ This has been proposed in the past and it is being proposed now but I see a future where drilling off the coast of New Jersey is permanently banned. We are going to fight down here in Washington.” – US Senator Cory Booker
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| Congressman Chris Smith |
“It’s like here we go again. We had a
similar proposal during the Obama administration. Now the Trump administration
has resurrected that, a little worse. We want to protect the fish, the
wildlife, and the environment. So we are
here to protect our precious beaches from offshore oil and gas substances, to
make sure our voices are heard. We will get everything you say not just to him
[Sec Zinke] but to the President and Vice President. We will make it very
clear: not here, not now, not ever.” –
Congressman Chris Smith
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| Cindy Zipf, Executive Director of Clean Ocean Action |
Immediately following the Press conference the excited crowd swarmed the BOEM Public Meeting en masse where they were given vague answers to their many questions and concerns, viewed outdated fact sheets and posters, and had the opportunity to submit comments online via laptops provided by BOEM. The meting did not allow for spoken testimony to be submitted.
Over 70 citizens signed up to speak for three minutes each and shared passionate and important testimony which was recorded by the professional transcriber. Clean Ocean Action will submit the transcript to BOEM for the record.
Here are
some highlights: Entire
event can be watched via the below links.
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| Araiya Casriel, a 12 year old citizen from Highlands, NJ |
“Nobody wants to go
to an oily, disgusting beach where dead sea creatures wash up all the time. We
would lose a large portion of New Jersey’s 44 billion tourism industry. With
that loss, we would lose some of the 580,000 jobs that depend on the tourism
industry. Speaking of jobs, commercial fishing accounts for 8,000 jobs. The
fishing industry provides the very food we eat. Oil drilling will scare off or
kill the fish and other ocean species. There are about 33 species of dolphins
and whales. This includes the Atlantic Right Whale, the rarest whale on earth.
These whales do not deserve to die. Even though I am still too young to vote, 6
years too young, I have been counting down the days until I can vote. I hope
the government will not carry out this crazy oil drilling proposal for reasons
that I believe are, well, obvious,” said Araiya
Casriel, a 12 year old citizen from Highlands, NJ
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| Jennifer Lengares-Meyer, Jenkinson's Aquarium |
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| Emily Hackett with 2-year old son Leo Herrala |
“No oil,” yelled 2-year old Leo Herrala from Neptune City, NJ
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| John Straw, Citizen, Brick, NJ |
“There are three
reasons why I am opposed to offshore oil. One, after two tours in Iraq, I came
home and realized that our addiction to foreign oil cost American lives and
drilling here in New Jersey isn’t going to solve that. Two, three years ago I
bought my house here 3 months before Sandy hit the Jersey Shore – completely
wiped out and a lot of my neighbors are still not back. Our addiction to oil
fuels global warming, making the Jersey Shore uninhabitable. The third reason,
in the summer of 2010 I was activated as a reserve and sent to Louisiana for
the BP Horizon Oil Spill. My job was to fly a helicopter everyday looking for
oil and it was the easiest job I ever had because oil was everywhere. When you
are 10,000 feet and you see oil edge to edge over the Gulf it has a personal
impact that you just don’t forget. What I want to impress upon you is that
every night I’d come home and watch CNN. They would have a countdown and as
soon as the well was capped, it was off the news, people left and it was gone.
What I am encouraging all of you, and I know I am preaching to the choir here,
is to not give up the fight.” - John
Straw, Citizen, Brick, NJ
Background: On January 4, 2018 the Trump Administration
declared war on the shore when Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke announced the
next phase of President Trump’s new 5-year Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas
Leasing Program (Draft
Proposed Plan). The plan includes opening the entire
Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Florida for drilling, including all of the Jersey
Shore and NY’s South Shore, and would allow rigs to come within 3 miles of
beaches.
Participating Anti-Offshore
Oil Coalition Organizations:
Clean Ocean Action, American Littoral Society, NY/NJ Baykeeper, Surfrider
Jersey Shore, Surfrider South Jersey, Surfrider Mid-Atlantic, WaterSpirit,
ANJEC, Blue Wave NJ, Food & Water Watch, League of Women Voters of NJ, NJ
Conservation Foundation, Bus for Progress, Clean Water Action, Jersey Shore
Partnership, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, Raritan Riverkeeper, Mott McDonald
Engineers, National Parks Conservation Association, Alaska Wilderness League,
Cape May Chamber of Commerce, Hackensack Riverkeeper, Sierra Club of New
Jersey, Alliance for a Living Ocean, Bayshore Regional Watershed Council,
Citizens Climate Lobby, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Edison Wetlands
Association, Garden Club of LBI, Garden State Seafood Association, New Jersey
Audubon Society, Save Barnegat Bay, Surfers' Environmental Alliance, Gotham
Whale
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