Kids & Family

Menendez: Oil Drilling Will Affect Tourism

Senator says House bill is "a great threat."

Column as submitted by Sen. Robert Menendez:

I know you share my love of the Jersey Shore, its great resources and the great economic engine it provides to our state.  But today we are facing the great threat of oil drilling off the coast of New Jersey.  Unfortunately, big oil managed to use its influence in the House of Representatives this week to get a bill passed that would allow drilling off the New Jersey coast and all along the eastern seaboard.

If this bill becomes law, it could have a terrible impact on the tourism industry at the Jersey Shore, on commercial and recreational fishing, on marine life, and on New Jersey's delicate coastal ecosystems.  An oil spill would ruin New Jersey’s shore for years to come.  It would mean not jumping the waves with our kids and not eating local fish on a night out.  It would mean boardwalks abandoned and lost jobs.

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We don’t want to wake up one morning to find a black sheen of oil coating our beaches, killing our fish, destroying small businesses and costing thousands of jobs.  We can’t afford to take the risk of losing what is so precious to New Jersey and its residents.

The line has been drawn in the sand and we are now in a battle to save our coast.  Please sign this petition and join me in the fight against this effort which puts the future of our shore at risk.

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Sincerely,

Sen. Robert Menendez


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