Legislation to permanently ban offshore oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico near the Florida west coast was reintroduced in the U.S. House on Monday.
U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, and a bipartisan group of 19 other Florida representatives including Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, and Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, introduced H.R. 2836 on Monday.
Known as the Florida Coastal Protection Act, the bill would extend an existing moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006, which bans leasing in eastern portions of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas production purposes through June 2022.
The ban includes the areas between 100 miles and 125 miles directly south of the coast of Escambia County on the western end of Florida.
Castor: Congress must protect Florida’s economy and environment
Although those presidential actions remain in effect, Congress would need to pass a permanent policy to avoid a reversal of those policies by future presidential action. In 2019, the House voted 248-180 for H.R. 205 to make the drilling moratorium permanent, but the effort died after the U.S. Senate did not vote on it.
“Without congressional action, we know that executive orders can be reversed,” Castor said in Monday’s press release. “That’s why Congress must vote to fully protect Florida’s economy and environment – we overwhelmingly passed this bill last Congress, and it’s my hope, with a Democratic majority in the Senate, that we can get this bill to President Biden’s desk for signature. The future of our way of life depends on decisive action.”
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Environmental Justice, as an urgent priority of the Federal Government, dates back to 1994, and President Clinton’s issuance of Executive Order 12898. This order directed federal agencies to identify and address, as appropriate, the disproportionately high and adverse human health and environment effects of its many programs, policies and procedures on minority populations and low-income populations. The primary legal basis for this order was Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, in particular, Sections 601 and 602, which prohibit discrimination in programs and activities receiving federal financial aid and assistance. Over the years, the Supreme Court has reviewed the scope and importance of Title VI. In
Coastâs Wicker Center gets $7 million infrastructure allocation The University of Southern Mississippi received $7 million in state money for the Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise in Gulfport. (Source: Southern Miss) By Tim Doherty | April 19, 2021 at 4:18 PM CDT - Updated April 19 at 9:45 PM
From University of Southern Mississippi University Communications
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) The University of Southern Mississippi was recently awarded $7 million in state funding to support infrastructure associated with the Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise.
The appropriated money from both capital expense funds and the Mississippi Development Authorityâs Gulf Coast Restoration Fund, brings the total to $21 million in appropriated monies to USM since 2019 for Wicker Center infrastructure and programming.