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Jeff Merkley News

13 Oct 2022

Tidewater to Expand Columbia River Barge Service

Tidewater Barge Lines, Inc will expand its regional barge service on the Columbia River after being awarded grant funding from the U.S. Department Maritime Administration (MARAD).The $4,168,759 from MARAD, combined with nearly $2 million in matching funds from Tidewater, will provide two new low and zero emission cranes that will enable the loading of additional solid waste containers on barges for shipment from southwest Washington to eastern Oregon.“This award will allow Tidewater…

21 Oct 2020

Cruise Industry Compliance Tips: Facial Recognition Technology

© Pixelmania / Adobe Stock

In the past few years, the commercial use of facial recognition technology has advanced at an explosive rate, expanding into numerous industries and trades. For instance, facial biometrics is increasingly relied on by airlines and airports across the globe; a similar trend is starting to take hold in the maritime industry, particularly the cruise sector.While this expansion is occurring, states and cities across the country—as well as the federal government—are attempting to enact strict laws regulating the use of facial recognition technology by commercial entities.

09 Oct 2015

US Senators Introduce Bill to Limit Offshore Drilling

A group of U.S. Senators on the West Coast have introduced a bill Wednesday aiming to prohibit offshore drilling on the outer continental shelf of California, Oregon and Washington.   First introduced in 2010, the West Coast Ocean Protection Act, would amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to permanently block drilling off the U.S. West Coast, stating that "the Secretary of the Interior shall not issue a lease for the exploration, development, or production of oil or natural gas in any area of the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of the State of California, Oregon or Washington."   The legislation was introduced by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

30 Sep 2015

House Bill Introduced to Block Arctic Drilling

Jared Huffman (Official photo)

Rep. U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman (Dem.-Calif.) introduced a bill Monday called the Stop Arctic Ocean Drilling Act of 2015, which would prohibit new or renewed oil and gas leasing in the Arctic Ocean Planning Areas of the Outer Continental Shelf. The Senate version of the Stop Arctic Ocean Drilling Act of 2015 was introduced by Sen. Jeff Merkley (Dem.-Ore.) on July 16, 2015. Following closely on the heels of Royal Dutch Shell’s decision to end drilling operations in the Arctic Ocean “for the foreseeable future…

23 Jul 2015

US Senator Introduces Bill to Stop Arctic Drilling

Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley (official portrait)

A piece of legislation aiming to stop offshore Arctic drilling was introduced last week by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley. The legislation, entitled Stop Arctic Ocean Drilling Act of 2015, would prevent new or renewed leases for the exploration, development or production of oil, natural gas or any other mineral in the Arctic planning area. "A spill in the Arctic would be an environmental catastrophe of extraordinary proportions – and such a spill is inevitable if drilling proceeds," Merkley said.

26 May 2015

US Senators Want a Stop to Arctic Drilling

Eighteen U. S. senators have urged the Obama’s administration to halt Shell’s Arctic drilling plans saying that it is an unacceptable and irresponsible decision, says a report in Reuters. Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley, joined by seventeen other Senators, has urged the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to halt all offshore oil and gas drilling permits in the Arctic region. “Opening development on a new fossil fuel reservoir in the Arctic not only puts the natural resources, ecosystems, and the dependent communities at risk, it also contradicts the President’s Climate Action Plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions and reduce climate change. It is an unacceptable and irresponsible decision,” wrote the Senators.

23 May 2015

U.S. Senators Urge Obama to Block Arctic Oil Drilling

A group of 18 mostly Democratic U.S. senators on Friday urged the Obama administration to stop Royal Dutch Shell's preparations for oil exploration in the Arctic, saying the region has a severely limited capacity to respond to accidents. The senators, from both coasts and several Midwestern states, sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, urging her to retire Arctic leases in the Chukchi Sea. Jewell's department earlier this month conditionally approved Shell's exploration plan in the Arctic. The move means the company is likely to return to the Chukchi Sea this summer for the first time since a mishap-filled drilling season in 2012.

22 Aug 2013

Oregon Senator to Introduce 'Marine Debris Emergency Act'

Photo courtesy of NOAA

At the recent Oregon Coast Economic Summit, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley announced plans to introduce the “Marine Debris Emergency Act,” a bill to help communities affected by marine debris emergencies. The bill would expedite the current grant award process made through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Marine Debris program and give preference in these grants to communities facing severe debris events. “With debris from Japan’s tsunami washing up on Oregon beaches regularly, it’s clear we need an urgent response to extraordinary events like these,” Merkley said.

26 Mar 2012

U.S. Senators Urge Support for Small Port Dredging

Senator Cantwell meeting with U.S. Coast Guard personnel on Washington waterfront (photo: Senator Cantwell's WEB site)

Cantwell, Senators Urge Support for Dredging of Small Ports, Including Swinomish Channel, Port of Ilwaco. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) has joined a group of Senators in urging key appropriators to include funding for dredging small and low-use ports in the fiscal year (FY) 2013 budget. Small and low-use ports are ports that don’t have enough tonnage to meet the Army Corps of Engineers’ threshold to qualify for annual dredging support but represent important economic engines of the communities they serve.