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10


Volume 12 Number 6


Senator Tim Kaine's Public Comment on Oil and Gas Drilling Off Virginia's Coast


March 2018 Career and Business Opportunities


BY U.S. SENATOR TIM KAINE


I submitted my official public comment to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) opposing President Trump’s proposal to open Virginia’s coast to oil and gas drilling. When Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced Florida would be exempt from drilling, he stated, “local voice matters.” I strongly agree. Virginians interested in submitting their public comments to BOEM can do so by Friday ( March 9).


Dear Director Cruickshank: As a Virginia citizen and elected


official, I would like to register my opposition to the inclusion of Virginia’s Outer Continental Shelf area in BOEM’s 2019-2024 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program.


In announcing the removal


of the Florida offshore area from consideration, the Secretary of the Interior stated, “Local voice matters.” I strongly agree. Regions like the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska have long traditions of offshore energy production, and these communities and their elected officials generally support new exploration. By contrast, Virginia has a coastal economy based on tourism, aquaculture, outdoor recreation, deepwater port commerce, and especially Department of Defense infrastructure – and a population with major concerns about adding offshore drilling to this mix.


Input from Virginia constituents


and from the Department of Defense has convinced me that the risks of this outweigh the rewards.


Coastal Virginians and regional


elected officials are broadly opposed. Te City Council and Mayor of Virginia Beach (Virginia’s most populous city) recently voted to take an official position of opposition to drilling. Other local bodies that have passed resolutions of opposition include Virginia’s second most populous city Norfolk, and the City of Williamsburg, as well as Northampton County, Accomack County, Suffolk County, and Isle of Wight County. Te Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, a regional body composed of representatives of 17 cities and localities, has adopted a resolution of opposition. Bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Rep- resentatives from this region are also opposed.


Businesses in tourism-reliant Virginia Beach have been particularly


vocal. Hotel and restaurant owners have asked me to imagine what a BP-type oil spill would do to their seasonal business. Te seafood aquaculture industry has discussed what it would mean for fisheries and oyster and clam cultivation. Te Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach, a national leader on marine mammal issues such as beachings of whales and dolphins, has discussed how it would complicate their efforts.


In addition, the Department of


Defense footprint cannot be overstated. Virginia is one of the most military- connected states in the country, and Virginia’s coastal area alone has more than a dozen DOD installations across every service branch, including Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval installation. Te region also has a federal footprint beyond DOD such as a Department of Energy national lab, the NASA-Langley research center, NASA-Wallops flight facility, and the Customs & Border Protection and Coast Guard facilities at the Port of Virginia.


Any look at a DOD map of the


Virginia OCS displays vast offshore areas in which drilling could conflict with military activities. Even if it is possible to shoehorn in Virginia offshore drilling amid the restrictions, I believe the risks to the region’s national security assets outweigh the rewards of this venture. Tis is also a view shared by the main advocacy group for the region’s military installations – the Hampton Roads Military and Federal Facilities Alliance, headed by a retired Navy rear admiral.


I hope BOEM will take opposition


from Virginia coastal communities as seriously as it takes opposition from Florida and other areas. Local voice matters.


Tank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Tim Kaine


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