Posted: Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016. 1:15 p.m. CST
By Chrisbert Garcia: A press release from OCEANA issued earlier today, announced that Washington D.C., United States, became the largest city in the world to formally oppose offshore drilling and seismic air gun blasting this morning when its city council voted unanimously to do so, joining a number of other American states and cities that have done the same.
Although 104 East Coast municipalities, 100 members of Congress, over 660 state and local elected officials and roughly 750 business interests have all publicly opposed offshore drilling, citing threats to marine life, coastal communities and local economies, the Obama Administration is still considering opening a gigantic part of the Atlantic Ocean to oil drilling, with some Governors clamoring for faster approval of seismic air gun permits.
Along the Atlantic coast, nearly 1.4 million jobs and over $95 billion in gross domestic product rely on healthy ocean ecosystems, mainly through fishing, tourism and recreation, hence the reason for the continuing mounting of coastal opposition to these proposed activities that pose a big risk to human livelihoods and marine life.
OCEANA’s release stated that the decision in Washington this morning is great news and it is their hope that offshore drilling will be fully banned in Belize.
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