NEWS

Bipartisan front in battle against offshore drilling

Sununu, NH’s Democratic congressional delegation push back against Trump plan

Paul Steinhauser news@seacoastonline.com
New Hampshire’s congressional delegation and governor oppose the Trump administration’s move to expand offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, reminding of the early 1970s when Aristotle Onassis sought to build an oil terminal at the Isles of Shoals and a refinery on the shores of Great Bay. [Rich Beauchesne/Seacoastonline, file]

PORTSMOUTH — New Hampshire’s all Democratic congressional delegation and its Republican governor often don’t see eye to eye.

But when it comes to a recent move by President Donald Trump’s administration to dramatically expand offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan and Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Annie Kuster are on the same page as Gov. Chris Sununu.

The four members of the state’s congressional delegation on Thursday sent a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke strongly opposing the Trump administration’s proposal. That plan, announced on Jan. 4, would allow for offshore drilling in the North Atlantic region.

“This reckless proposal poses a significant risk to Seacoast communities in New Hampshire and would negatively affect marine ecosystems and our environment,” the delegation wrote.

“This expansion threatens the vitality and economic interests of New Hampshire’s commercial fishing industry that depends on access to clean and healthy ocean,” they added. “As your department begins to accept public comments in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, we urge you to listen to the voices of our constituents and remove the New Hampshire coastline.”

That same day, Shaheen and Hassan teamed up with fellow New England senators to introduce a bipartisan bill that would bar offshore drilling along the New England coast.

Shaheen said the measure, formally known as the New England Coastal Protection Act, is crucial because “New Hampshire has 18 miles of coastline – 18 miles of homes, small businesses and wildlife that will be threatened by offshore drilling because of the Trump administration’s actions.”

And Hassan said added “our coastal communities in New Hampshire are critical to our economy and our environment, and we must do everything that we can to protect them.”

The new fight brings back memories of a battle from four decades ago, when Granite Staters successfully prevented the world’s richest man at the time, Aristotle Onassis, from building what would have been the world’s largest oil refinery on the shores of Great Bay.

Shea-Porter and Kuster joined Congressman David Cicilline of Rhode Island in filing a companion legislation in the House.

“Any disaster caused by offshore extraction would devastate our fishing and tourism industries. We can’t let that happen,” Shea-Porter said.

Kuster argued “protecting our seacoast communities from the impact of offshore drilling operations is crucial to defending our environment and economy.”

It was the same language from Sununu, the state’s first Republican governor in a dozen years.

“We have the smallest pristine coastline and I’m not a fan of drilling offshore here in New Hampshire,” Sununu said Tuesday in an interview.

A decision by the Trump administration on Tuesday to exempt Florida from expanded offshore drilling sparked a frenzy in other coastal states, with governors, lawmakers and officials in those states asking “how about us?”

Politics may have partially been behind the move to give Florida a carve-out, as the president has urged the state’s two-term governor, Republican Rick Scott, to run for the Senate this year against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson.

“The administration’s proposal to vastly expand drilling operations has been met with bipartisan opposition and a waiver has already been issued to the state of Florida. New Hampshire and New England communities deserve the same certainty that the health and productivity of their shores will not be jeopardized,” Kuster said.

Asked if the governor has voiced his opposition to the president or Zinke and if he’s asked for an exemption for New Hampshire, a Sununu spokesman Ben Vihstadt said “the governor has been clear and vocal in his opposition, and looks forward to speaking directly with the administration during his next visit, which will be in the coming weeks.”