Lawmaker Calls On Obama To Ban Oil Drilling Off Coast

State Senator Sean Kean was not among those cheering the President's visit to New Jersey yesterday. Instead, the Monmouth County legislator used the visit as an opportunity to call on Barack Obama to stop supporting oil drilling near the New Jersey Coastline.

"If the President is serious about supporting small businesses, he will tell New Jersey today that he has changed his position on offshore oil drilling," says Kean. "The President's desire to let big oil commercialize the coast has the potential to destroy thousands of small shore-dependent businesses. As we have seen in the Gulf, all it takes is a single oil spill."

Kean points out that the Jersey Shore is a major component of New Jersey's multi-billion dollar tourism industry, and small businesses of every sort would be at risk if a catastrophe like the BP oil spill were to occur. Small businesses including bed and breakfasts, restaurants, concessionaires, bars, grocery stores and taxi owners would be destroyed if an oil spill impacted the New Jersey Shore.

"We don't need to add gambling on offshore oil production to New Jersey's gaming industry," says Kean. "It's a sure loser."

The Senator thinks "The Situation is bad enough" at the Jersey Shore without the threat of an oil spill. Is that a thinly veiled reference to one of the characters on the MTV reality show, 'The Jersey Shore'? Kean says, "It's not thinly veiled."

On a more serious note he adds, "I attended a forum on this very topic Monday night at Monmouth University. Leaders statewide, including Governor Christie and most businesses, have strongly opposed drilling for oil near New Jersey or off the Atlantic seaboard.

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