Rep. Ted Lieu On The Devastating Impact Of Coastal Drilling

California Democratic representative Ted Lieu explained how coastal drilling can be detrimental to the environment.

“When a pelican is exposed to an oil spill, there are few ways it could die.” Lieu stated. “If enough oil gets in its feathers, the pelican loses its ability to regulate its own body temperature so it could get hypothermia and it dies. If a pelican tried to remove the oil by preening, or cleaning itself with its beak, it could ingest oil and die. And if a pelican finds prey that has been exposed to oil, it could ingest it and die. The harmful environmental impact of oil spills is clear. We remember the pictures, or experienced the 2010 gulf oil spill firsthand. And many Californians remember that in 1969, the Santa Barbara oil spill spewed 4.2 million gallons of oil into the ocean. That spill damaged the environment and ravaged the tourism and fishing industries for years. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke made a stunning admission when he exempted Florida from the Trump Administration’s proposed off-shore oil drilling plan. He essentially acknowledged that off-shore oil drilling harms coastal economies and tourism.”

He finished by saying, “Simply put, opening the Pacific to additional leases is another disaster in the making.”

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