June 19, 2017
By SNJ Today Staff
AVALON, N.J. – Local officials, New Jersey State officials, and community members rallied together on Monday, June 19th, to take a stand against offshore drilling.
Congressman Frank LoBiondo (R), along with members of the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce, the New Jersey Tourism Association, and the Business Alliance for the Protection of the Atlantic Coast, gathered in Avalon to voice their disapproval of issuing seismic testing permits to search for oil and open up the Atlantic and Arctic ocean for potential drilling.
The groups met to call members of the community to make their voices heard about any issue they care about.
“Write their congressmen and their state senators, write the President of the United States, write the Secretary of the Interior and let them know that you are opposed to it,” said Vicki Clark, president of the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce.
“Bad things happen when people don’t get involved,” said LoBiondo. “When people are aware, people weigh in, people understand, people get themselves involved regardless of the issue but especially an issue like this, it can make a real difference.”
The permits will allow for seismic testing, which uses a loud air gun to find oil beneath the ocean floor, to be conducted in the mid-Atlantic, from Delaware to central Florida.
Environmental groups and many East Coast lawmakers argue that the testing will harm commercial fishing, endanger marine life, and impact the tourism economy along the east coast.
http://www.snjtoday.com/story/35698724/rep-lobiondo-and-groups-gather-to-oppose-offshore-drilling