- - - - - NEWS FROM BARBARA BOXER, UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM CALIFORNIA - - - - -
January 28, 2011
Dear Friend:
This week I introduced the West Coast Ocean Protection Act, a bill to permanently prohibit new offshore drilling along the Pacific coast. I was joined by all the Senators from the West Coast – including my colleague from California, Senator Dianne Feinstein, and Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) – in offering this critical legislation to protect the 570,000 jobs and $34 billion coastal economy of our three states.
Additional offshore oil development along the Pacific shoreline would needlessly endanger irreplaceable natural resources and our vital coastal economies.
President Obama has not included the West Coast in any new offshore oil and gas development plans through at least 2017, but we need permanent protection. The West Coast Ocean Protection Act includes clear language stating that “the Secretary of the Interior shall not issue a lease for the exploration, development, or production of oil or natural gas in any area of the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of the State of California, Oregon or Washington.”
Be assured that I will work to enact this important bill to safeguard our entire coastline from harmful offshore drilling.
Sincerely,