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April 7, 2006
Victory in Virginia -- Governor Kaine Rejects Offshore Drilling
Richmond, Virginia -- Virginia's coast was spared today by Governor Tim Kaine (D) who rejected a plan to open up the state's coast to offshore drilling. The announcement is a victory for the thousands of concerned citizens in Virginia who have spoken out in recent weeks against the drilling proposal and adds momentum to nationwide push for protecting our coasts and seeking cleaner, cheaper and faster energy solutions. Kaine announced he will send a bill back to the legislature stripped of language that would lift the moratorium on drilling off the coast.
"We applaud Governor Kaine today for standing up to special interests and sending the message that Virginia is not for drillers," said Mike Town, Director of the Virginia Chapter of Sierra Club. "It's time for Virginia to end the debate over auctioning off our valuable coastline to the oil and gas industry and high time we embrace energy solutions that will sustain our energy needs and our economy far into the future."
Virginians have spoken out in recent weeks against the idea of drilling off Virginia's coasts and voiced concerns about the potential impacts for the region's tourism economy, fishing interests, seafood industry, culture, military operations and fragile beaches, wetlands and coastal waters.
"Virginia has too much to lose from letting the oil and gas industry line our shore with rigs and pipelines," said Town. "It's time for Virginia to embrace innovative energy solutions like efficiency and renewables and making cars go farther on a gallon of gas which will start saving consumers and businesses energy and money today."
Kaine also inserted language into the bill that says Virginia supports a federal survey to be paid for with federal dollars of offshore waters more than 50 miles from the coast to determine potential natural gas deposits.
"A survey is a slippery slope that could increase the pressure to drill off the Virginia coast," said Town. "We can look under every rock and every grain of sand in America and still not be able to drill our way to energy independence. Instead of surveying for fossil fuels off our fragile beaches, we should be surveying all the ways we can make our homes, businesses and cars more efficient."
Virginia is often considered key to a "domino effect" strategy pursued by the oil and gas industry which hopes to chip away at the offshore drilling moratorium and pick off states one by one.
"The idea that Virginia would be the key to opening America's coasts to the oil and gas industry was rejected today," said Town. "Sierra Club thanks Governor Kaine for keeping Virginia rig-free."
The fight to protect Virginia's coast is far from over. The Bush administration is already laying the groundwork for oil and gas lease sales off the Virginia coast. The Minerals Management Service (MMS), the federal agency that overseas offshore oil and gas drilling, is wrapping up a public comment period on Monday on their new 5-year management plan which includes oil and gas surveys off Virginia's coast, a move that is in contrast to a federal moratorium that has been in place for 25 years.
That moratorium has long spared Virginia from the ravages of offshore drilling and related on shore petroleum processing development. The MMS draft plan is just part of a "triple threat" to end the moratorium protecting the Atlantic Coast from offshore oil and gas development. In addition to the state legislation Governor Kaine amended today, several pieces of federal legislation, including a bill cosponsored by Senator John Warner (R-VA), push for access to Virginia's coast.
The Virginian-Pilot wrapped up it's "Offshore 101" editorial series on Monday by supporting the moratorium and saying, "[Drilling] would almost certainly do nothing to help move America off its dependence on fossil fuels, an addiction that has cost us thousands of military lives and forced us to make friends with some horrible people around the globe. Virginia has been asked to trade something precious and irreplaceable for uncertain financial riches, and to perpetuate a bankrupt national energy strategy for a few years more."
For more Information, please visit www.sierraclub.org/coasts
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