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That "moderate" impact, according to the study, would cause injury or even death for 138,000 <br />marine animals. <br />Millions more could have their feeding and migration patterns disrupted. <br />The extremely rare North Atlantic Right Whales, which are familiar to our coast, would be in <br />danger. <br />And fisheries that are commercially important would likely be impacted, Oceana's Huelsenbeck <br />told National Geographic. <br />If that's "moderate," I can't imagine what the federal government would consider as high impact. <br />JOBS WILL BE LOST <br />Last week, a group supporting drilling for oil and gas came to Jacksonville for a meeting of the <br />Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which was conducting a public hearing, to argue for <br />including Florida in the five-year plan. <br />Their pitch was for more jobs for Florida. <br />Just ask the people living along Florida's Gulf Coast what happens to jobs when oil and gas <br />drilling operations, in spite of assurances to the contrary, go terribly wrong. <br />Think about what happens to jobs when commercial and recreational fishing goes into the tank <br />when the dangers from seismic airgun testing turn out to be not so "moderate." <br />And it's not dust the waters off Florida that will be impacted. <br />The entire East Coast will be at risk if these plans are allowed to stand. <br />The Matanzas Riverkeeper organization is one of the local groups fighting against the seismic <br />testing and drilling. <br />Cities along Florida's Atlantic coast have passed resolutions in opposition, including Atlantic <br />Beach, St. Augustine and Fernandina Beach. <br />It's time Jacksonville's City Council joined in. <br />The amount of oil and gas deposits along the Eastern Seaboard has been described as a "drop in <br />the bucket" when compared to the reserves in the Gulf of Mexico. <br />The drill, baby, drill supporters say there's much more. <br />Even if they are right, it's not worth it. <br />ron.littlepage@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4284 <br />http://iacksonville.com/opinion/ron-littlepage/2015-02-24/story/ron-littlepage-thanks-obama-our- <br />coast-danger <br />