Joe Cunningham: “I am not an extreme environmentalist. I am a conservationist. And that is why I find it difficult, most of the time on…”

“I am not an extreme environmentalist. I am a conservationist. And that is why I find it difficult, most of the time on fighting some of the people who are speaking against this amendment, that I find myself allied with them on this particular issue. Most of the time we quote studies. The first thing we do is see who did the study, who paid for it, and what is their agenda. The National Academy of Sciences is neither pro-business nor pro-environment. They are pro-science, and they are peer reviewed. The National Academy of Science: Gas and oil exploration will, not may, will, cause irreputable damage to the environment and to the economy off the coast of California. I understand the gentleman from Texas. I trained with the Navy in Texas. Their beaches are not pristine like Florida and California. That is why all of their folks come to California for the good weather and the nice beaches, and we want to keep it that way. We want them to come back to California. But I want to tell the Members something. The moratorium that we have had has protected the shorelines. During the gas debate, I talked about Batigitos Lagoon and our beaches. A lot of our economy is based on tourism. I heard, well, it is just the oil tankers leaking in Long Beach or it is seepage. It is not. The National Academy of Sciences said if we drill those new leases, then it is going to cause irreputable damage.…”