Just after Labor Day, President Trump extended a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in a portion of the Central and most of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and expanded the decade-long ban to planning areas off the coast of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. During his remarks, the President extended “congratulations to Florida, Georgia,…
There is no doubt that seismic blasting to explore for oil and gas off our coast will have negative effects on fish and marine mammals and will limit public access to ocean waters for recreational and commercial fishers. Because of this, the Coastal Federation joined the State of North Carolina in objecting to WesternGeco’s proposal…
Environmental groups opposing offshore oil and gas prevail for now. The legal challenge against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will continue in U.S. District Court in South Carolina after Judge Gergel denied the Department of Interior’s motion to dismiss it. This ruling follows a decision Judge Gergel made at the beginning of the year,…
The U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of two bills that would prevent new offshore drilling from occurring off the Atlantic, Pacific and Florida Gulf Coast. First, the House passed a bill introduced by Rep. Rooney (R-FL-19) — Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act of 2019 (H.R. 205) — by a vote of 248-180.…
The release of the 2019-2024 Proposed National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program has been postponed indefinitely according to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. Bernhardt explained in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, published on Apr. 25, 2019, that the agency will await the outcome of the appeals process against the decision from…
On March 29, Judge Gleason of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska overturned President Trump’s push to open up 128 million acres in Arctic and Atlantic waters to oil and gas drilling. These federal waters were withdrawn from lease sales in 2015 and 2016, making them off-limits to oil and gas exploration…
The League of Women Voters of Dare County hosted a public meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 27 to discuss the current activity associated with seismic surveys and the development of the 2019-2024 National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program. Craig Merrill, the Natural Resources Committee Chair, welcomed the attendees and introduced Bob Woodard, Dare County Commissioner…
The North Carolina Coastal Federation and partner organizations filed a motion for a preliminary injunction on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2019 to block seismic surveys from beginning in the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf until a separate lawsuit is resolved. The initial lawsuit filed on Dec. 11, 2018 outlines that the decision to issue incidental harassment authorizations (IHAs) violates…
Press release via Oceana CHARLESTON, SC – A group of conservation organizations today asked a federal judge to block the start of harmful seismic airgun blasting in the Atlantic Ocean, a precursor to offshore drilling, until the case can be fully heard in court. The motion for a preliminary injunction filed in federal court in…
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Leading environmental groups sued the federal government today to prevent seismic airgun blasting in the Atlantic Ocean. This extremely loud and dangerous process, which is used to search for oil and gas deposits deep below the ocean’s surface, is the first step toward offshore drilling. If allowed, seismic airgun blasting would harm marine life,…