PRESS STATEMENT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sean Cooley, Communications Manager, (850) 999-1030, scooley@audubon.org 

MIAMI (January 16, 2018) - Last week, Senator Bill Nelson filed the Florida Coastal Protection Act to permanently ban oil and gas drilling off Florida’s coasts in the U.S. Senate. Representative Kathy Castor, with co-sponsors Reps. Charlie Crist, Alcee Hastings, Stephanie Murphy, Francis Rooney and Darren Soto, also has companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives. Florida’s coastal habitats are some of the most unique and biodiverse in the world, and any offshore accidents would have devastating ecological and economic impacts to Florida. Audubon Florida Interim Executive Director Julie Wraithmell cheered the efforts to ban offshore drilling saying:

“Florida’s Atlantic Coast and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico are no place for dangerous offshore drilling, and we applaud the bipartisan efforts in Congress to protect our coasts. Our state is home to some of the most beautiful beaches and rarest wildlife in the world. The risks of offshore drilling are simply not worth putting our coastal communities, natural resources, and economic vitality at risk. Thank you, Sen. Nelson and Rep. Castor, for leading this bipartisan effort to protect natural Florida. Senator Nelson led the charge for the essential RESTORE Act after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and we applaud his recent move in the U.S. Senate seeking permanent protections for Florida’s coasts.”
 
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