Trump Takes First Steps On Drilling Off New Jersey Coast

This week, President Donald Trump's administration took the very first steps to open up the Atlantic Ocean off southern New Jersey for potential oil and natural gas drilling.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Interior opened up the opportunity for public comment on their plan to explore oil and natural gas drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf. The seismic testing, and eventual drilling, would be done in an area tens of thousands of miles wide, stretching from the New Jersey/Delaware border to central Florida.

That part of the Atlantic Ocean was protected under President Barack Obama's Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Obama protected 3.8 million acres in the Atlantic Ocean, stretching from Massachusetts to Maryland. In the Arctic Ocean, he protected 115 million acres, excluding only 2.9 million acres which have previously been leased near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. He blocked any fossil fuel exploration in those ocean waters for five years.

It will take up to two to three years for Trump to undo those federal protections Obama put in place, but he's made it clear he intends to do so.

"We're creating a new offshore oil and gas leasing program," Trump said last Thursday, speaking before the U.S. Energy Department. "America will be allowed to access the vast energy wealth located right off our shores. And this is all just the beginning — believe me. The golden era of American energy is now underway."

Trump plans to export the oil and natural gas to other countries.

The first step before drilling is seismic testing to look for oil and natural gas. The National Marine Fisheries Service said it would grant five permits in the Atlantic for seismic testing. Seismic testing involves ships trolling that segment of the Atlantic, using airguns to send ultrasound waves through the water every ten seconds or so. This blasting can continue for months on end, according to this blog post from the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Seismic blasting has been shown to be harmful to whales, particularly endangered baleen whales. Some scientists say the blasting can prevent them from communicating via "whale songs," and cause them to abandon their habitats. The underwater blasting can also be harmful to porpoises and any other marine mammals.

But Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said there is some misinformation on both sides about just how harmful seismic blasting is.

"They are explosions but not the violent kind. It's like underwater fireworks," he explained. "Mammals do get scared and spooked. It's not a direct physical threat to whales, but 'annoyance' is also too mild of a word. These shock waves are unnatural sounds. The blasting can cause whales to run aground or do things they shouldn't do, like run into a ship. It does harass them."

“Now is the time for the people to stand up and speak out against this disastrous plan,” he added. "Now with the comment period opening, people have to speak out send a clear message to the 'fossil fool' in the White House to withdraw this dangerous plan. We need to stand up and tell President Trump: ‘Hands off our coast.’

When he was president, Obama previously planned to allow oil and gas drilling off Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. However, his administration dropped those plans in the face of local opposition and the current oil market at the time. After the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in Louisiana, many were concerned about oil spills along the Mid-Atlantic coast.

Trump has also pledged to increase oil and natural gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and in the Arctic.

The 45-day comment period is the first step in the lengthy, years-long process of opening up that section of the Atlantic. The public can weigh in and give comments until Aug. 17, 2017. The procedure involves assessing the economic and environmental impact of drilling, and the effects it would have on ocean features, wildlife and local communities.

The Sierra Club and others have file a lawsuit against the Trump administration to preserve Obama's Atlantic Ocean protections. And U.S. Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th Dist.) introduced bills in Congress to prevent oil drilling off the Atlantic Coast. Rep. Frank LoBiondo, a Republican Congressman from South Jersey, introduced a separate measure to prevent drilling.

Photo: An oil rig in the Caspian Sea. Date: 24 April 2009 Source: www.dragonoil.com Author: www.dragonoil.com.