On Earth Day, members of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation announced a bipartisan effort to ban offshore oil drilling.
But the legislation announced Tuesday may be little more than a symbolic gesture.
On his first day back in office, President Trump declared a national energy emergency.
“We will drill, baby, drill,” Trump said in his second inaugural address – to huge applause.
Just two weeks earlier, President Biden had tried to protect more than 625 million acres of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans from offshore oil and gas drilling in perpetuity.
Now a bipartisan group of lawmakers are pushing back, introducing a suite of legislation aimed at protecting America’s coastline from toxic spills.
As part of that effort, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressman Seth Magaziner co-sponsored the New England Coastal Protection Act.
Whitehouse said, “With President Trump scrambling to grant the looters and polluters swarming around his administration every item on their wish list, I’m committed to doing everything in my power to stop reckless oil and gas drilling off Rhode Island’s coast.”
“Rhode Islanders take pride in being the Ocean State, and in our clean waterways that support good jobs and quality of life,” said Magaziner.
The New England lawmakers listed as co-sponsors include Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Susan Collins (R-ME), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Angus King (I-ME), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
The House bill is co-sponsored by Representatives Gabe Amo, Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Jared Golden (D-ME), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Jim Himes (D-CT), Bill Keating (D-MA), John Larson (D-CT), Jim McGovern (D-MA), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Richard Neal (D-MA), and Chellie Pingree (D-ME).
Although the co-sponsors include Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, it’s unclear how much Republican support these bills have overall, likely not enough to override a presidential veto.
