National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Tom Fry applauded the Virginia State Senate’s passage of a Virginia State House Bill supporting energy development on the state’s coast.

In a recently released statement, Fry acknowledged several public officials’ desire to see offshore energy resources developed in Virginia, making it the first area of the Atlantic outer continental shelf to be leased in nearly 30 years. Supporters of the bill say that offshore leasing would provide new jobs, new federal and state revenue and additional energy.