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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

I, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and citizen of Asbury Park, NJ, am writing to strongly oppose the 2019-2024 plan for new oil and gas drilling off the U.S. coast including New Jersey coastline.

I am a witness to the many beach closures due to pollution of our oceans and waterways, to the harm done to marine life through plastics, trash dumping and oil spills in our ocean and waterways, and the increase of coastal flooding, storm surges, ocean acidification and climate change. I am also witness to the rehabilitative results since the 1960’s and earlier of Protective Environmental Laws, Clean Water, Public Land, and Air Acts, the restorative measures taken by concerned environmental groups and citizens to save our beaches and oceans, and the necessary Environmental Impact Studies on any new industrial development.

Exploring, developing, or producing oil or gas will not only undo these healing efforts but, in addition, negatively affect the tourist economy needed for coastal communities to thrive.

In summary, I strongly oppose drilling in the Atlantic Ocean and beyond because our oceans and beaches are a life-giving natural resource for all that inhabit our planet. The preservation and health of our oceans and beaches are the responsibility of everyone, every government, every corporation to protect from short-sighted interests that jeopardize our present and future lives.

Joyce Grant

Founder, Citizens for Oceanfront Preservation

[These letters represents the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here.]

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