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Trump moves toward offshore oil testing in Atlantic

The Hill

The Trump administration took a major step Friday toward allowing testing for offshore oil and natural gas under the Atlantic Ocean.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is letting five companies commit “incidental” harassment of marine mammals like whales and dolphins as part of their seismic testing to determine oil and gas deposits under the ocean floor, the agency said.

It’s the first time since the 1980s that the federal government has allowed seismic testing with airguns in the Atlantic Ocean, and it could lead to the first oil and natural gas drilling there in a similar timeframe.
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Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) called for Congress to pass a bill that would ban seismic airgun testing in the Atlantic, a bill that he has already introduced.

“Seismic blasting and offshore drilling pose a threat to marine life and the coastal economies which depend on them. There is no justification for intentionally welcoming this kind of damage, particularly at a time when oil prices are low and fossil fuel corporations are posting record profits,” he said in a statement.

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