December 12, 2002
CAPPS AND BOXER TAKE NEXT STEP TO STOP
NEW OFFSHORE DRILLING
Washington, D.C.- Today, Congresswoman Lois Capps and Senator Barbara Boxer
formally asked President Bush to abandon any attempts to appeal last week’s
federal appeals court decision that could stop new oil drilling off the Central
Coast. Their letter
urges Bush to work with California and its elected
representatives on ways to terminate the
36 undeveloped leases that have been
the focus of controversy for years.
“It’s time to end the threat new offshore drilling poses to our environment and economy,” Capps said. “The people on the Central Coast have made it very clear that we don’t want any more oil drilling. We’re calling on the Bush Administration to respect our wishes and terminate these leases once and for all.”
Senator Boxer stated, “This second court decision in favor of the state of California should send a clear signal to the Bush Administration that they should stop all their efforts to undermine California’s strong environmental policies.”
The Capps-Boxer letter to President Bush cites the appeals court decision as just the latest in a series of actions calling for an end to oil drilling in environmentally sensitive areas. This past summer, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed Rep. Capps’ amendment to stop new drilling off the Central Coast and the Senate subsequently passed a measure supporting the House position. And the Bush Administration sided with environmentalists, and Gov. Jeb Bush, when it announced plans to buyback oil leases in and around Florida nearly a year ago.
Rep. Capps has been a leader in Congress on offshore oil drilling and coastal protection issues. In addition to getting House support for the end to new drilling off the Central Coast, she led the California congressional delegation in filing a “friend of the court” brief in support of California’s position in the recently decided court case. She has also led the fight against the Administration’s recent efforts to weaken the very coastal protection law that California is using to stop development of the 36 leases.