A bipartisan coalition of four Gulf Coast governors - from Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas - are calling on the Biden Administration to reconsider restrictions protecting a critically endangered and elusive whale species.
The Outer Continental Shelf Governor’s Coalition (OCSGC) - in an Oct. 5 letter to Andy Strelcheck, the Southeast Regional Administrator with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) - said that expanding a critical habitat designation for Rice’s whale would harm commerce traversing the Gulf of Mexico.
The governors claim restrictions under consideration could damage the U.S. economy.
According to the letter, a requirement for federal permitting from the NMFS before offshore commercial activity can occur would create an economic “ripple effect” that is “felt across the entire U.S. economy.”
It would be harmful, they said, at a time families and businesses are struggling with inflation.
“The cumulative effects of these restrictions would have severe effects on the economies of our coastal communities, our states, and the entire U.S. with the volume of trade that transits through the Gulf,” the letter reads.
The letter was signed by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, Republican Governors Kay Ivey of Alabama, Tate Reeves of Mississippi, and Greg Abbot of Texas. (AL.com 10/13/23) Why governors of four Gulf states are worried about a whale - al.com
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