(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) voted this week to pass three bills in the U.S. House of Representatives that would protect coastlines in Maryland and across the country, along with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, from oil and gas drilling.

“Left unchecked, big oil and gas will undermine public health, pollute our water, and forever change the quality of life on the Earth," said Rep. Raskin. “I was proud to vote for this legislation today and remain committed to pushing for greater environmental stewardship with my House Democratic colleagues and fellow members of the Congressional Safe Climate Caucus as we work to sever the direct line from the White House to the special interests and corporate polluters."

The House-passed bills include:

• The Coastal and Marine Economies Protection Act (H.R. 1941), which permanently blocks new offshore drilling projects along the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines;
   
• The Protecting and Securing Florida's Coastline Act (H.R. 205), which permanently blocks new offshore drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico; and
   
• The Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act (H.R. 1146), which repeals a provision of the GOP Tax Scam that opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas development.

Offshore oil and gas drilling operations expose coastal communities to the economic risks and adverse environmental impacts of oil spills. Less than a decade ago, the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010 spilled more than five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico and resulted in the loss of at least $7.6 billion in tourism revenues across the region.    

For more information about the Coastal Marine Economies Protection Act and the Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act, see here.

To learn more about the Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act, see here.

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