New Jersey fears the damage from an offshore oil spill would be much worse than the hit its tourism economy took from a spate of medical waste wash-ups in the 1980s.
Incoming Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who made opposing many of President Trump’s policies a cornerstone of his campaign, pledged Friday to help lead opposition to the Republican president’s plan to open nearly the entire U.S. coastlines to drilling. He appeared at a news conference at a popular oceanfront restaurant in Long Branch with fellow Democrats U.S. Sen Bob Menendez and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., pleading to help lead the fight against the plan.
That opposition could include legal action against the Trump administration, Murphy said.
Trump “dropped a ticking time bomb off our coast,” Murphy said.
“What we need to do is support our shore and the millions of people, from everyday New Jerseyans to those who come from around the world, who love our beaches,” he said. “We need to support the billions of dollars in economic activity, the tens of thousands of jobs, and the thousands of businesses that rely upon a safe and clean shoreline. We must stand firm against any plan for fossil fuel exploration, drilling, or development off the Atlantic Coast - whether it be three miles, 30 miles or 300 miles from New Jersey.”
Tourism is a $44 billion industry in New Jersey, and its commercial fishing industry brings in $7.9 billion a year, supporting 50,000 jobs.
The incoming governor’s wife, Tammy, said the damage from an oil spill would be far worse than the $1 billion hit New Jersey’s beaches took from the medical waste episodes in the late 1980s, when photos of syringes, bloody gauze and other disgusting detritus along the state’s beaches led to national revulsion. It also led to successful efforts to stem the source of the waste from landfills in New York City, as well as to improve the quality of New Jersey’s state’s ocean water.
Environmentalists pledged to join with other groups around the country in a nationwide campaign against the drilling plan, noting that elected officials and environmental groups on both coasts have come out against the proposal.
Opposition came from both parties. In addition to Democratic Govs. Jerry Brown of California, Kate Brown of Oregon and Jay Inslee of Washington, Republican Govs. Rick Scott of Florida and Larry Hogan of Maryland also called on Trump to reverse course.
The energy industry and its supporters are delighted by the proposal, saying it will provide more reliable sources of domestic energy and create new jobs.
The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce has mixed feelings about the proposal.
“We always welcome opportunities for exploration if done with the environment in mind and the proper safeguards in place,” said its vice president Michael Egenton. “However, we along with the chambers in the shore counties have concerns about safety. God forbid if anything happens, what would that do to our beaches?”
Cindy Zipf, executive director of Clean Ocean Action, called Trump’s plan “maniacal.”
“No area of the ocean will be untouched, unpoked, and unprodded,” she said.
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