Press Releases

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) today applauded the House passage of the Protecting and Securing Florida's Coastline Act (H.R. 205), which blocks new offshore drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act (H.R. 1941), which blocks new offshore drilling along the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines. The legislation included an amendment to ban seismic airgun blasting in the Atlantic Ocean, an initiative Beyer spearheaded with his bipartisan Atlantic Seismic Airgun Protection Act.

“Coastal communities, the Pentagon, business leaders, and political leaders from both parties, all stand against additional offshore drilling and seismic blasting. They threaten fragile marine habitats that local economies depend on and pose a serious risk to endangered species, like the North Atlantic right whale, which is on the brink of extinction,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “At a time when global temperatures are steadily rising and the habitats of imperiled species are increasingly unstable, we have every reason to ensure the health and security of our coastlines. Congress took a major step today to preserve those coastlines and push back against yet another handout from the Trump administration to the fossil fuel industry. If we want to protect species and address the blaring alarm bells of the climate crisis, these bills put us on the right track to do so.”

Beyer spoke during Floor debate in favor of the underlying bill and the amendment to ban seismic airgun blasting.

Rep. Beyer has been a fierce critic of the Trump Administration's moves to expand drilling off America's coastlines. He led bipartisan opposition to oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after arriving in Congress, when he was assigned to serve on the House Committee on Natural Resources. He introduced bipartisan legislation earlier this year to halt permits for seismic airgun blasting on the Atlantic seaboard.