Salem - Governor Kulongoski today signed into law a bill banning offshore oil and gas exploration on the Oregon Coast.
"The
Coast is one of Oregonians' most treasured places," said Jeremiah
Baumann of Environment Oregon. "Today the Oregon Coast is protected."
Oregon's
coast was protected by a moratorium on offshore drilling for several
decades in the wake oil spills due to offshore drilling off of
California. Oregon's moratorium expired in the mid-1990s with a sense
the threat had passed.
But in recent years, oil and gas companies
have been pressing for access to coastal waters. Last summer, the U.S.
House of Representatives voted to lift a moratorium protecting the East
and West coasts of the United States that had been in place for
decades.
This spring, President Bush announced his intent to lease federal territory off of Virginia and Alaska for drilling.
