OLYMPIA, WA — The governors of Oregon, Washington and California sent a joint letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewel Thursday, stressing that they don’t want the possibility of drilling off of the West Coast. The Interior Department is developing an updated plan for its Outer Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, and the governors formally stated their opposition to the inclusion of any oil or gas lease sales off the coast as part of any new plan.
Governor’s John Kitzhaber, Jay Inslee of Washington and Jerry Brown, of California, wrote that their three states “represent the fifth-largest economy in the world” and their ocean-dependent industries contribute billions of dollars to the region each year.
“While new technology reduces the risk of a catastrophic event such as the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, a sizeable spill anywhere along our shared coast would have a devastating impact on our population, recreation, natural resources, and our ocean and coastal dependent economies,” they wrote.
The governors, all Democrats, also stressed a commitment to develop a strategy to combat climate change.
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