Oregon’s Governor Kate Brown announced that it will not allow offshore oil drilling off Oregon’s coast. Namely, an executive order directs state agencies to prevent activities regarding offshore oil and gas drilling in Oregon.
The Oregon Coast supports 22,000 jobs in tourism and recreational industry and more than 5,500 jobs in marine fishery. It is also an ecoological zone for many species.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
As a result, offshore oil and gas drilling will put coastal economies, fisheries, the environment and safety at risk, Ms. Brown said.
When President Trump announced that he encourages offshore oil and gas exploration, Oregon tried to receive an exemption, but until now no such thing has happened.
For this reason, the state decided that offshore projects will not proceed, before the necessary review is carried out by state agencies, regarding:
- Authorization of pipelines and other infrastructure on submerges lands;
- Federal consistency review of OCS projects by the Oregon Coastal Management Program;
- Water quality certification by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
For the above reason, Oregon is opposing to oil and gas exploration off the state and aspires to prevent offshore oil and gas drilling infrastructure, to protect its coasts, industries and safety.