Frank Pallone: “Let me first thank the sponsor of this legislation, Mr. Cunningham, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lowenthal), and…”

“Let me first thank the sponsor of this legislation, Mr. Cunningham, the gentleman from California (Mr. Lowenthal), and Mr. Grijalva for all of their work on this legislation. I want to say that I do think a permanent moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans' Outer Continental Shelf planning areas is something that we must do. It doesn't matter whether you represent the Atlantic or the Pacific Coast communities. A vote for a permanent moratorium on oil and gas development along these shores is a vote for our country's economic vitality. I heard my colleagues on the other side of the aisle and the last two speakers talk about national security and how we don't have an energy plan. The bottom line is that, if you look at the consequences to the economy of the country in these coastal communities from something like the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, it was a 10-year projected economic loss of $8.7 billion in fisheries from Texas to Florida, including 22,000 lost jobs just for fisheries. Think of the impact on the tourism industry with the impact on local businesses if we have a spill of this magnitude. Tourism is now the number one industry in my State of New Jersey. And don't tell me that we don't have an energy plan.…”