SAY NO TO OFFSHORE DRILLING– HERE’S HOW

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Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum

Credit: iStock @landsea | BP TransOcean’s Oil Rig in the Gulf of Mexico

Offshore drilling poses huge risks to the health of Gulf Coast communities, workers, wildlife, and the climate. That is why community-led organizations in the Gulf and Alaska, along with allied national environmental organizations, are united in their call to the Biden administration: No New Drilling or Leasing!

Take action with frontline communities and submit a comment to the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) in opposition before Oct. 6th!

Earlier this summer, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM) released its proposed Five Year Plan. The Five Year Plan will determine whether the Biden administration intends to keep its commitment to stopping new offshore oil and gas drilling and set the country on a path towards less toxic pollution and fewer climate disasters.

President Biden has committed to taking executive action to achieve climate goals. We’re not asking him to do anything that he hasn’t already committed to. This isn’t a radical suggestion: we’re asking Joe Biden and his administration to follow through on the commitments he made to protect frontline communities, our health, and the climate.

For too long, the Gulf of Mexico has been considered a sacrifice zone by the oil and gas industry, meaning the communities — their health, safety, and environment — are seen as expendable for the greater good of corporate profit. As demonstrated by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the destructive effects of offshore drilling. One study found that children of color were at greater risk of physical health problems from the spill, and that children in low-income households were at a greater risk of mental health issues stemming from the spill.

We don’t have time to lose. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warns that nations around the world are running out of time to divest from fossil fuels, making it absolutely necessary that the Five Year Plan includes no new leasing. But Big Oil companies are exploiting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and high energy prices to urge the administration to expand leases for offshore drilling.

This month, the oil industry is celebrating another quarter of historic profits due to price-gouging — all while Americans struggle to pay their energy bills and fill up their cars at the pump. More drilling and more handouts to oil and gas companies will not bring down the price of gas, nor will they fight inflation—more drilling only benefits Big Oil CEOs while communities, already hammered by the climate crisis, suffer more.

Any new drilling is an unacceptable risk, and we refuse to trade off coastal communities to appease Big Oil! 

Thank you for your support,
Jessi Parfait
Campaign Representative
Beyond Dirty Fuels – Sierra Club