GOP New Hampshire governor to sign offshore drilling ban

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) will sign a bill Tuesday banning offshore drilling in Granite State coastal waters, according to The Associated Press.

Sununu previously stated his opposition to the Department of the Interior’s announcement in January 2018 that it will open the Atlantic and Pacific coasts up to offshore drilling.

Both chambers of the majority Democratic state legislature passed the ban earlier this year.

{mosads}Sununu’s announcement followed a federal judge’s ruling earlier this year that President Trump’s order to open the Arctic and parts of the Atlantic to oil and gas development exceeded his authority.

Every U.S. senator representing a coastal New England state co-sponsored legislation banning offshore drilling along the region’s shoreline in May.

“While the Trump administration pursues opportunities to promote fossil fuels with abandon, and no concern for our environment, New Hampshire must move forward with sustainable energy developments including offshore wind and increased solar energy,” State Sen. Martha Fuller Clark (D) said in March after the measure passed the chamber.

“Offshore drilling and exploration disrupts fisheries, ecosystems, and tourism and does nothing to move the needle on climate change,” she added.