Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BEYER. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank my colleague, Mr. Levin, for his leadership on this amendment.

I have been invested in this issue throughout my time in Congress, and earlier this year my Republican colleague, Chris Smith, and I introduced the Atlantic Seismic Airgun Protection Act, a standalone bill that would amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit oil, gas, and methane hydrate-related seismic activities in the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Straits of Florida. This amendment would do just that.

Our coastal economy relies on healthy ocean ecosystems that generate $95 billion in gross domestic product every year and support nearly 1.4 million jobs every year.

Seismic blasting poses a major threat to marine life, including the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale, which is on the verge of extinction. Because they are extremely loud, these dynamite-like blasts are likely to have significant, long-lasting, widespread impacts on the behavior and survival of fish and marine mammal populations. If these are impacted, it is a serious danger to our coastal economies.

This amendment will protect our marine life and our coastal economies, and I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this amendment.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source