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May 5, 2010

Oceana Joins Senators in Opposition to New Drilling

Oceana CEO Andy Sharpless joined three Senators at a press conference on the oil spill yesterday, and he called on President Obama and Congress to ban new offshore drilling.

“I will make it short and to the point,” said Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida). “The president’s proposal for offshore drilling is dead on arrival.” Senator Nelson was joined by New Jersey Democratic Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez.

The Senators also vowed to keep new oil drilling provisions out of any climate change legislation that comes out of the Senate, and Senator Menendez has introduced new legislation to raise the limit on the amount of money oil companies could be forced to pay for economic damages from catastrophic oil spills. 

“While it is too late to avert the Deepwater Horizon disaster, it is not too late to learn from it, or to put those lessons to work,” said Sharpless. “We must take immediate action and put in place long-term policies that put the health of coastal communities and ecosystems over the interests of the oil lobby and industry profits.”

Three House committees are planning to hold hearings on the oil spill next week — we will continue to keep you posted.