Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. LEVIN of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in support of H.R. 1941, the Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act, to ban new offshore drilling along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts.

My district is home to over 50 miles of beautiful California coastline. It is home to some of the world's premier marine research institutions, not to mention some of the best surfing in the country.

In San Diego and Orange Counties, the ocean economy accounts for $7.7 billion and sustains more than 140,000 jobs in coastal tourism and recreation. All it will take to jeopardize those jobs is a massive spill like the one we saw off the coast of Santa Barbara in 2015, which poured 142,000 gallons of crude oil into the water and onto beaches across southern California. That is why the people I represent have made their voices heard loud and clear: No more drilling off our coast.

We can't allow the fossil fuel industry and their friends in the Trump administration to exploit our oceans for their own profit, roll back safety regulations that help prevent spills, and threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs.

I expect we will hear a lot more from my friends across the aisle, many of whom represent landlocked districts, who claim there is nothing to worry about. Well, they should know that the folks who actually live in coastal communities won't stop fighting to protect our oceans and our jobs.

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Mr. LEVIN of California. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to the amendment offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock).

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Mr. LEVIN of California. Mr. Chair, there is absolutely no sense in making a special exception to open the waters along the Pacific Coast for drilling.

Supporters of this amendment clearly represent districts many miles from the nearest coastline. Maybe they never saw the environmental devastation on southern California beaches after the Santa Barbara Plains oil spill in 2015; maybe they haven't visited with small businesses in coastal communities like mine that depend on tourism and recreation to survive; maybe they don't know that offshore drilling threatens nearly 746,000 jobs and nearly $53 billion in GDP along the West Coast.

However, I have seen that devastation. I visited those small businesses. And I am well-aware of how many jobs could and would be lost if we suffer from another spill along the Pacific Coast. I also know that more than 90 West Coast municipalities and all three Pacific Coast State governors formally oppose offshore drilling.

The people I represent in San Diego and Orange County certainly do as well. They know that the risks far outweigh any benefit that fossil fuel companies will reap from drilling off our coast, and I am here to raise their voices.

Mr. Chair, many of my Republican colleagues in the Committee on Natural Resources try to justify their push to destroy our coastal communities with offshore drilling by claiming that the alternative to expanded drilling is imported foreign oil.

If my friends on the other side of the aisle were serious about addressing oil imports, they would not sit idly by as the Trump administration works to completely undermine our country's fuel efficiency standards.

If they were serious, they would support the State of California as it works to strengthen fuel economy, so that this country is not dependent on oil, period. And so that Americans can save money at the pump.

California is working to reduce oil imports with its vehicle emissions standards and low carbon fuel standard, but the Trump administration is fighting tooth and nail to stop it by revoking the State's Clean Air Act waiver and challenging its groundbreaking agreement with automakers to set strong standards.

Those who support the Trump administration's efforts are hitting my constituents--not once, but twice. First, they are making cars less efficient, which drives climate change and hurts air quality in southern California. And now, supporters of this amendment are seeking to increase the chances of an environmental catastrophe that could do irreparable damage to my constituents' communities and our local economy.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to recognize the impact that this amendment will have on Pacific Coast economies by strongly opposing it.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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