Oil Drilling off the Oregon Coast?

Dear Friends,

Jim Huffman is just plain wrong.

Last week I introduced an amendment that would have banned companies from drilling for oil and natural gas off the Oregon coast.

Will you stand with me in this goal?

Seems like a pretty common sense argument to me. Oregonians have consistently opposed efforts to drill off our coast. We value our coastline and the huge economic boost it is for our state too much to risk a Gulf of Mexico-style disaster.

Huffman took me to task in The Oregonian this week even going so far as saying that Oregon’s fishing industry: “is no longer a significant economic factor, even in most coastal communities.”

Tell that to the anglers and sports fishermen or the 12,000 Oregonians who are employed by the commercial fishing industry. To put that in perspective, that’s 5,000 more Oregonians than Nike employs. Surely nobody would argue that Nike isn’t a significant economic factor in Oregon.

And that doesn’t even take into account the more than 9 million out-of-state tourists who visited the Oregon coast last year. They spent money in our hotels, ate at our restaurants, and are a huge part of the economy in our region.

Mr. Huffman is surely aware they came to enjoy our pristine beaches and recreational opportunities – not massive oil platforms.

Let me be clear, people like Jim Huffman may have some powerful friends in the oil business who don’t care about Oregon’s economy or the priorities of Oregonians.

But with your help I will continue to fight these corporate interests to protect our coast and our local economy.

Sincerely,

Kurt Schrader

P.S. Help me stand up against individuals like Jim Huffman who want to drill off Oregon’s coast by making a secure donation of $200, $100, $50 or whatever you can afford today – every contribution matters!

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