• Facebook
  • Google Plus
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Advertise
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
Header image

Times of San DiegoLogo

Local News and Opinion for San Diego

Menu

Skip to content
  • All
  • Politics
  • Crime
  • Business
  • Sports
  • Education
  • Arts
  • Military
  • Tech
  • Life
  • Opinion
Search Thousands of San Diego Jobs
  • San Diego County Reports 3,027 New COVID-19 Cases and 28 More Deaths
  • California Democrats Liken Newsom Recall Effort to Extremist ‘Coup’
  • Journal: 'Scientifically Undeniable' That Humanity Faces '6th Major Extinction'
  • Opinion: Mob Violence at the U.S. Capitol Echoes the Fall of Republican Rome
  • Dry, Warm Weather Predicted for San Diego County

Home » Politics » This Article

Reps. Levin, Peters Call for National Ban on Offshore Oil Drilling

Posted by Chris Jennewein on September 4, 2019 in Politics | 304 Views
| Comments | Leave a Comment
Share This Article:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmail
Rep. Mike Levin speaks at press conference
Rep. Mike Levin speaks at the press conference in Encinitas. Photo by Chris Jennewein

The two congressmen representing most of coastal San Diego County called for a vote on national legislation to permanently ban new oil drilling off America’s coasts.

Support Times of San Diego's growth
with a small monthly contribution

Become a supporter

At a press conference on the oceanfront in Encinitas, Democratic Reps. Mike Levin and Scott Peters called for the House of Representatives to pass the Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act, and for Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on similar legislation in the Senate.

The House bill would prohibit the Department of the Interior from offering any undersea tracts for new oil and gas leases in the outer continental shelves of both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

“This is not a partisan issue,” said Levin. “Eighty percent of residents don’t want to see drilling rigs off the coast.”

Peters, whose 52nd District stretches from Coronado to La Jolla, noted that the 1989 Santa Barbara oil well blow-out — the third largest oil spill in history — was exactly 50 years ago.

He said a similar spill today off San Diego would severely disrupt the region’s $4 billion tourism economy as well as national-security operations by the Navy. Moreover, he said, America now has sufficient oil and low-cost natural gas —  as well as growing alternative sources — to make risky offshore drilling unnecessary.

“There’s plenty of oil. With the energy needs we have, we don’t need to take the risk,” he said.

Levin said the Trump administration’s attempt to radically expand offshore drilling helps only the oil companies.

“This administration, this Department of Interior — it’s not that they’re too close to the oil industry, it’s that they are literally in the oil industry,” he said.

Reps. Levin, Peters Call for National Ban on Offshore Oil Drilling was last modified: September 5th, 2019 by Chris Jennewein

>> Subscribe to Times of San Diego’s free daily email newsletter! Click here

Follow Us:
Facebooktwitterrss
Posted in Politics | Tagged Atlantic Ocean, Mike Levin, offshore drilling, oil, Pacific Ocean, Scott Peters
Search Thousands of San Diego Jobs

Get Times of San Diego by Email

Our free newsletter is delivered at 8 a.m. daily.


Most Popular Today

  • Opinion: Santee's Dustin Trotter Should Resign as Backer of D.C. Insurrectionists Opinion: Santee’s Dustin Trotter Should Resign as Backer of D.C. Insurrectionists 1,430 views
  • New CDC Data Shows How San Diego County Ranks Nationally in the Pandemic New CDC Data Shows How San Diego County Ranks Nationally in the Pandemic 1,360 views
  • MarketInk: Prolific Announcer Hangs Up Microphone After 2,000 Games Over 35 Years MarketInk: Prolific Announcer Hangs Up Microphone After 2,000 Games Over 35 Years 670 views
  • San Diego Residents 65+ Are Next in Line for Vaccine, But Supplies Still Limited San Diego Residents 65+ Are Next in Line for Vaccine, But Supplies Still Limited 500 views
  • Nazi Flag Driver, an Iraq Combat Veteran, Has Gun Violence Restraining Order Nazi Flag Driver, an Iraq Combat Veteran, Has Gun Violence Restraining Order 450 views

©®2021 Times of San Diego LLC

Menu

  • About
  • Staff
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Advertise
  • FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service