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The Donald Trump administration has approved five applications from companies seeking to conduct deafening seismic surveys off the Atlantic coast that experts say could harm tens of thousands of dolphins, whales and other marine life.
The National Marine Fisheries Service announced Friday that it has issued authorizations allowing companies conducting seismic surveys in the Atlantic to harm wildlife "if it is not intentional," according to the newspaper. The New York Times
Companies are looking to drill oil and natural gas off the east coast from Delaware to Florida. Seismic tests map the bottom of the ocean to determine the estimated location of oil and gas.
Sea sounds can harm marine animals and even kill marine animals, Katherine Brogan, spokeswoman for the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration, told The New York Times:
"NOAA Fisheries clearly indicate in the relative documentation (bycatch authorizations) that we do not expect mortality from these surveys, "she said. NOAA oversees the National Maritime Fisheries Service.
"By-pass authorizations" is a bureaucratic term: permits allow businesses to pursue their projects.
Federal leases could lead to exploratory drilling for the first time in over half a century.
Just a week ago, in the aftermath of Thanksgiving, the Trump government released a damaging report on the economic and agricultural costs of climate change. Thirteen federal agencies support the 1,600-page report. Trump dismissed the critics' accusation that the administration would have buried the report the day after a holiday, Black Friday.
The Fisheries Service Announcement comes just a week after the Trump Government released a new report showing that searches and fires Fossil fuels from federal territories accounted for nearly a quarter of all dioxide emissions in the United States over a decade ending in 2014.
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) Condemned the actions of the administration in a tweet of Friday.
"Since Donald Trump decided to ignore the concerns of residents and stakeholders directly affected by seismic explosions and offshore drilling," Beyer said. It is time for Congress to step in and put an end to this by passing my bill, the Atlantic Seismic Airgun Protection Act. Commercial fishing is also under threat, and Sea Board governors have said that drilling could also affect beach tourism.
In a statement released Friday, the American Petroleum Institute, a lobby group for the oil and gas industry, praised the Trump Authorizations.
"The United States needs to know what energy resources exist off our shores and we hope that exploration permits for offshore oil and gas and a comprehensive offshore leasing plan to explore and develop the outer continental shelf will allow to advance soon. "
Rep. Raul M. Grijalva (D-Ariz) criticized the decision of the administration authorizing the acoustic tests to constitute" an alarming sign of indifference [its] to the fate of the coastal communities and to marine life, including the North Atlantic right whale, a species in danger of extinction. "
Grijalva" There is nothing this administration does not do for the industry fossil fuels, including the destruction of local economies and the destruction of endangered species' habitats. "
Grijalva, a member of the minority party in the House's natural resources committee, is expected to Assume the presidency of the next Congress.
In 2016 and 2017, 20 Atlantic right whales died, reducing their numbers to only 400. The NMFS issued a statement on November 15 explaining that right whales from the North Atlantic are prote under United States law. The Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Scientists estimate that there are just over 400 left, making it one of the rarest marine mammals in the world.
As a result, the NMFS has begged commercial fishermen not to harm right whales in the Atlantic, who are now migrating south.
Barb Zoodsma, a right whale biologist at NOAA Fisheries, said in a statement released on November 15.
"We have lost 20 right whales in US and Canadian waters since 2017 during an unusual day.Mortality event.The number of right whale deaths is worrisome for a population of a little more than 400 animals, especially because we estimate that there are only a hundred breeding females that produce fewer calves each year. "
For the sake of wildlife and According to the New York Times, the Obama administration has denied six seismic test permits several weeks before Trump took office in 2017. At that time, the American Petroleum Institute has Obama condemned, saying that such a refusal would hurt the creation of jobs and would increase energy costs. [19659002] "The release of these permits brings us closer to oil-covered beaches and economic disaster," Karen Brown, president and CEO of the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, told New York Times. . 19659002] For his part, Trump said that he did not believe in climate change.
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