LC 28 3811
A
RESOLUTION
Urging
the Minerals Management Service of the United States Department of the Interior
to immediately begin a new five-year planning process to include the Atlantic
Planning Areas, particularly the area off the coast of Georgia.
WHEREAS,
the outer continental shelf is home to wide areas of recreational and commercial
activities, as well as some of the nation´s most fertile areas of oil and
natural gas production; and
WHEREAS,
the development of oil and natural gas resources, where allowed, off our shores
has coexisted for decades with these other activities while benefitting coastal
residents and noncoastal Americans alike; and
WHEREAS,
offshore development of oil and natural gas has provided needed supplies of
American energy and substantial local, state, and federal revenues;
and
WHEREAS,
the offshore oil and natural gas industry provides thousands of jobs and is an
important source of economic development; and
WHEREAS,
offshore oil and natural gas production operations have a long history of
environmentally sensitive and safe performance, and other federal Atlantic outer
continental shelf areas, such as those offshore of Virginia, are included in the
current 2007-2012 plan; and
WHEREAS,
today, areas of the outer continental shelf offer some of the greatest potential
for American energy resources, including the Sale 181 area of the Central and
Eastern Gulf of Mexico and the area known as the North Aleutian
Basin.
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of
this body join in urging the Minerals Management Service of the United States
Department of the Interior to immediately begin a new five-year planning process
to include the Atlantic Planning Areas, particularly the area off the coast of
Georgia.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized
and directed to transmit appropriate copies of this resolution to the United
States Secretaries of Commerce, the Interior, and Energy and to the
administrators of the Minerals Management Service, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the
Environmental Protection Agency.