SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a permanent ban on offshore drilling as the federal government forges ahead with a plan that could open up the Pacific Coast for exploration.

The House voted 47-8 on Tuesday to prohibit drilling and exploration on state marine waters. The measure indefinitely extends a 10-year ban on the practice that was set to expire next year.

It also outlaws any activities and infrastructure that would support drilling in federal waters off the Oregon coast.

The bill now goes to Gov. Kate Brown for her signature. The governor issued an executive order to block offshore drilling last year after the Trump administration proposed dozens of potential oil leasing sites off the Pacific coast, including one off the coast of Oregon and Washington.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes:

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>