PRESS STATEMENT
Date: July 11, 2019
From: South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce
Subject: Booker offers Day One action to ban offshore drilling in the Atlantic
Contact: Frank Knapp, President/CEO, 803-252-5733 (w), 803-600-6874 (c),
fknapp@scsbc.org
Booker offers Day One action to ban offshore drilling in the Atlantic
Senator Cory Booker has released the following statement committing to a first day executive action as President that will effectively ban offshore drilling for oil in the Atlantic:
“Offshore drilling is a threat to our nation both environmentally and economically, devastating natural habitats and putting jobs in peril. On day one in office I will sign an executive order banning new oil drilling leases on public lands and waters.”- Senator Cory Booker
(Contact Rhonda Rawlings for more information at rrawlings@corybooker.com, 914-325-2187)
Senator Booker becomes the fifth Democratic Presidential candidate publicly committing to ban offshore drilling in the Atlantic on Day One. The other candidates are Warren, Biden, O’Rourke and Inslee. For more information on the SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce’s campaign for this Day One action plan on offshore drilling, click here.
Below is the statement of Frank Knapp Jr., president and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce.
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Senator Cory Booker understands that his voice is crucial in the effort to protect the Atlantic Coast from the economic destruction of offshore oil drilling. New Jersey, like the other East Coast states, is critically dependent on a vibrant tourism, commercial fishing and recreation economy. Drilling for oil in the Atlantic threatens every state from Florida to Maine with oil-drenched beaches and a devastated commercial fishing industry. Senator Booker’s executive order on Day One will make sure this doesn’t happen if he is President.
Senator Booker is also committed to transitioning our nation’s economy to zero and low-carbon polluting energy. Banning new oil drilling leases on public lands and waters will propel us in that vital direction.
I anticipate that more Democratic Presidential candidates will be adopting this same Day One action plan. Only such a commitment to a unilateral action by all the Democratic candidates will provide two needed guarantees.
First, it will guarantee that offshore drilling will be on the November 2020 ballot in spite of the Trump Administration’s effort to bury the matter as an election issue.
Second, it will guarantee that with a new President, regardless of the which party controls either Congressional chamber, new drilling leases on public lands and waters will stop.
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The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce is a statewide advocacy organization founded in 2000. With over 17,000 small business owners, entrepreneurs and engaged citizen supporters, it has successfully worked to make South Carolina and the federal government more small business friendly in areas such as healthcare, taxation, regulation, worker training, energy/conservation, workers’ compensation and economic development.