Dead Marine Mammals, It
Seems, Are a Small Price to Pay for More Oil Exploration
By
Sarah Okeson
Democratic senators
from a dozen states, from New Hampshire to Virginia, have asked for
the same exemption that Florida got
from proposed oil and gas leases, but
Republican lawmakers support a bill to make it easier to explore for oil.
The House Committee on
Natural Resources recently approved sending H.R.3133, the Streamlining Environmental
Approvals Act, to the full House. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mike
Johnson (R-La.) would weaken the landmark Marine
Mammal Protection Act that protects marine mammals such
as polar bears, sea lions and dolphins.
“In the 45 years since it was enacted, it’s been used in ways that sometimes defy common sense,” Johnson said.
Johnson represents
Louisiana, one of the states whose coastline
was befouled in 2010 by the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
His bill would make it easier for oil companies to get government permits to
survey for oil. The surveyors fire airguns,disturbing animals such as
the endangered North Atlantic right whales, to
create seismic images of what’s under the ocean floor.
The Marine
Mammal Protection Act, signed by former President Richard Nixon
in 1972, generally forbids hunting, harassing, capturing or killing marine
mammals in U.S. waters. The law has helped reduce dolphin deaths associated with
fishing for tuna, and some shipping lanes were adjusted to help
protect the North Atlantic right whale.
In January 2017, the
Obama administration denied permits for six companies that
wanted to use seismic testing to survey the Atlantic coast. That decision was
based, in part, on harm the surveys would do to right whales, sea turtles and
other marine life. Government estimates said up to 138,000 marine animals could
be harmed.
Under Trump, the National Marine Fisheries Service is weighing whether to let five drilling
companies injure or disturb fish and marine mammals
to search for oil and gas deposits in the Atlantic. More than 120 cities and
towns on the East Coast oppose offshore drilling and/or seismic
surveys.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, the
Republican being cajoled by Trump to try for
the Senate seat now held by Florida Democrat Bill Nelson, was able to get Florida removed from Trump’s
proposed oil and gas lease sales. Lawmakers in more than a dozen other
states want out too.
Johnson supports Trump’s plan to allow drilling in most U.S.
continental-shelf waters, including protected areas of the Arctic and the
Atlantic. Oil and gas interests contributed $52,000, more than any other
industry, to Johnson’s first congressional campaign in 2016.
The oil and gas
industry contributed more than $346,000 during that campaign to the other eight
lawmakers who co-sponsored the bill, including three other representatives from
Louisiana, Ralph
Abraham, Garret Graves and Clay Higgins,according
to the Center
for Responsive Politics.
In 2010, an explosion
on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform killed 11 workers and led to the worst
oil spill in U.S. history. Years later, bottlenose dolphins had high death rates and trouble reproducing.
“When the Trump
administration is talking, you can actually see the oil lobby’s lips moving,” said Rep. Jared
Huffman (D-Calif.).
ACTION BOX/What You
Can Do About It
Oceana, a nonprofit
that works to protect the oceans, has put together a guide for how to get your city to pass a
resolution opposing seismic surveys. Oceana can be reached at 202-833-2070.
The Subcommittee on
Energy and Mineral Resources has scheduled a hearing on the permitting
process for seismic research at 9 a.m. Jan. 19 in Room 1324 Longworth House
Office Building. A list of the members with links to their contact information
is here. Call them and let them know your
thoughts about whether protections for polar bears and whales should be
weakened to increase oil company profits.