skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

A Few More Days for Public Comments on Offshore Drilling Plan

play audio
Play

Monday, August 14, 2017   

RICHMOND, Va. -- The public has until Thursday to comment on the first step towards a proposal that could open the Virginia coast to offshore drilling.

The Trump administration may roll back an Obama-era plan to make much of the Atlantic coast off-limits to oil and gas exploration and development. Attorney Steve Mashuda with Earthjustice’s oceans program said Obama's position was driven in part by an outpouring of public opposition from individuals, businesses and local governments.

He said many on the coast feel oil leaks and spills would be just too damaging.

"Vibrant fishing communities up and down the Atlantic coast; vital tourist economy, driven by the clean waters - oil and gas drilling off those shores is just not worth the risk,” Mashuda said.

Some in the Trump administration describe offshore drilling as part of an energy policy that increases domestic production and boosts jobs. But critics argue it would put important coastal job creators at risk.

Laura Wood Habr is a Virginia Beach restaurant owner who helped found the Business Alliance for Protecting the Atlantic Coast. She said that group represents 41,000 businesses and 500,000 fishing families along the Atlantic coast.

She said those communities would see few jobs and little tax money from the drilling, and they don't need help with energy or economic development.

"Tourism's growing, our military's growing, and so is our seafood industry,” Habr said. "There’s not any revenue-sharing for the state of Virginia, so there's no benefit. It's all risk and no benefit."

Another issue is the air gun surveys that would come before the drilling. Mashuda said the sonic survey craft would tow the air guns around hundreds of miles of coastal waters, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, blasting constantly for months.

"Fire every 10 to 15 seconds with incredibly loud sounds, loud enough to deafen permanently whales and other marine mammals that depend on sound,” he said. "Loud enough to cause physical injury."

Comments can be filed online with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, at boem.gov/Submitting-Comments.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021