PROTECTING AN ENVIRONMENTAL TREASURE

Georges Bank, the large Northeastern fishing grounds shared by Canada and the United States, is a magnificent natural resource. Mainers have fished Georges Bank for centuries, and it continues to supply cod, haddock, yellowtail flounder, scallops, lobsters, swordfish, and herring. Hundreds of small communities in New England depend on fish from Georges Bank for economic support and their maritime-based way of life. What is more, Georges Bank is extremely valuable from an environmental standpoint. Its unusual underwater topography and tidal activity create an almost self-contained ecosystem, unique within the ocean that surrounds it, worthy of protection and preservation.

An oil spill on Georges Bank would have catastrophic effects for the area's ecosystem and the economies of the coastal communities of New England. Georges Bank experiences some of the most severe weather in the world, and the frequent storms, strong currents, and high winds would cripple any post-spill cleanup effort. For this reason, and because of its great biological value, many scientists, fishermen, and other people concerned about the unique ecosystem of Georges Bank have urged that no drilling activities occur in this region.

I have long worked to protect Georges Bank from the potentially devastating impacts of offshore oil and gas drilling. In 1999, when the Government of Canada was considering whether or not to drill on Georges Bank, I introduced a resolution in the Senate that asked Canada to impose a moratorium on drilling on the Canadian side of Georges Bank until 2012. I was very relieved when, several months later, Canada did indeed impose such a moratorium. The United States also has a moratorium on drilling Georges Bank through 2012.

This issue again arose in May of 2001, when the Outer Continental Shelf Policy Committee recommended to the Secretary of the Interior that she encourage congressional funding to assess the oil and gas potential of offshore areas covered by the moratorium. The recommendations also included a suggestion to explore lifting parts of the existing moratorium.

In response, I worked in the Senate to prohibit the use of funds for offshore drilling, or preparation for it, on Georges Bank. In July 2001, I cosponsored an amendment that prohibits the Department of the Interior from spending any funds on drilling or related activities in Georges Bank and the entire North Atlantic. I was very pleased when this amendment was signed into law.

Given our successful efforts to protect this environmental treasure, I am very concerned about provisions included in the energy bill, which the Senate is currently debating, that threaten the existing moratoria on pre-drilling and drilling activities related to oil drilling on Georges Bank and other areas of the outer continental shelf. One section in the bill requires the Department of the Interior to inventory all potential oil and natural gas resources in the entire outer continental shelf. This provision would allow potentially damaging seismic technology in the vital fishing grounds of Georges Bank. Although my colleagues and I did not succeed in removing this provision, the 44 Senators who voted to protect our coast sent a clear message that they take the preservation of these important areas of the Outer Continental Shelf seriously and should help discourage further attempts to encroach on this valuable resource.

We need to ensure that any studies of Georges Bank do not harm its sensitive ecosystem and that the studies do not become a pretext for oil drilling efforts. Maine's fishermen have made significant economic sacrifices to work toward sustainable and healthy fish stocks in recent years, and I am concerned that any drilling activities could destroy their work, to say nothing of the environmental damage it would cause. I am hopeful that future efforts to protect Georges Bank will succeed in preserving this part of the rich land and seascape that we are so privileged to enjoy.