1 not be taken as a determination of policy for the governors represented 



2 here today, because I'm certainly not prepared to make such a commitment 



3 for my governor. 



4 It's good we're talking about science, but we need to remember 



5 that science is only one facet of the controversy. Yes, there are heavy 



6 political pressures on the governors from the fishing industry in New 



7 England and from the environmentalists, and there is the question of 



8 economics. 



9 Does economics, at this point and time, favor offshore oil and gas 



10 exploration in general, let alone in the canyons? There's also public 



11 opinion. Public opinion favors the fisherman. 



12 New Englanders are suspicious of the oil companies, and by 



13 extension, the Interior Department. Anybody who doubts what I say 



14 should come to one of the public hearings that they have in any city or 



15 town in New England about any aspect of the offshore drilling program, 



16 whether it's the 5-year program or a specific lease sale. 



17 At these public hearings you'll see people who do represent the 



18 fishing groups and do represent the environmental community get up and 



19 voice their opposition to the proposal. You'll also see members of the 



20 general public doing the same thing. 



21 That's because in New England there's a genuine emotional 



22 attachment to the fisherman. The fisherman is seen as a rugged 



23 individualist, one of the last of the dying breed, really, who has been 



24 around for 300 or more years, who has faced all sorts of adversity, and 



25 really faces adversity every day when he's out on a fishing trip trying 



26 to bring back a quality product for all of us. 



27 Facing lousy whether and so on and so on, it's a romantic notion, 



28 I grant you, but it's a notion that I think is very deeply held by ewery 



29 New Englander, including, I dare say, myself. 



30 The fisherman is also an important part of what New Englanders 



31 like to call the quality of life, the sorts of things that make this 



32 region unique. In that qual ity-of-life concept, there's also a notion 



33 that there are certain quiet places in the world that should not be 



34 disturbed or should be left for traditional uses. 



134 



