Tag Archives: Chris Van Hollen

Zinke Tells Panel Definitive Word on Offshore Drilling Plan Months Away

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Thursday reiterated that no new oil and gas exploration will be allowed off the Florida coast, but said the Trump administration’s plans for other offshore areas won’t be announced until the fall. Zinke appeared before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday to discuss a wide range of budgetary issues. But his talk with lawmakers hit a rough patch when Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., grilled him over the Interior Department’s plans to open up waters around the U.S. for oil exploration. >click to read<20:13

Some Md. lawmakers oppose seismic testing

Eight Democratic members of Maryland’s congressional delegation wrote President Obama Monday urging him to reconsider his administration’s plan to allow seismic testing for oil and gas off the mid-Atlantic coast. According to the Department of Interior’s estimates, they said, the use of air guns for testing would injure about 138,000 marine mammals and disrupt their feeding, calving, breeding and other activities. <Read more here> 20:12