September 9, 2019

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

RE: Support H.R. 1941, the Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act of 2019 and H.R. 205, the Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act of 2019

Dear Representative: 

The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) works to turn environmental values into national priorities.  Each year, LCV publishes the National Environmental Scorecard, which details the voting records of members of Congress on environmental legislation.  The Scorecard is distributed to LCV members, concerned voters nationwide, and the media.  

We urge you to vote YES on H.R. 1941, the Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act of 2019, which would permanently ban offshore drilling off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and YES on H.R. 205, the Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act of 2019, which would permanently extend the offshore drilling moratorium off the Florida Gulf Coast. 

These crucial bills would ban oil and gas leasing and pre-leasing in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Florida Gulf Coast and protect coastal communities and fragile marine ecosystems from environmental catastrophes. The Deepwater Horizon was the largest oil spill in the history of our country, unleashing an ecological disaster that killed thousands of marine mammals and nearly one million birds, extensively damaged deep-sea coral, and contaminated more than 1,100 miles of beaches along the  coast of the Gulf of Mexico, costing more than $22 billion in tourism revenue for coastal communities.

The environmental tolls of offshore drilling are too high for marine wildlife to bear. Our coastal communities are already on the frontlines of the climate crisis and cannot afford another Deepwater Horizon. Because of this, it is imperative to protect coastal communities and marine ecosystems from the risk of devastating oil spills by supporting this legislation to permanently ban offshore drilling off the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.

For these reasons, LCV strongly urges you to support H.R. 1941 and H.R. 205 and to oppose any amendments that undermine the legislation. We will strongly consider including vote(s) on this bill in the 2019 Scorecard.  If you need more information, please call my office at (202) 785-8683 and ask to speak with a member of our government relations team.  

Sincerely,

Gene Karpinski

President