Stand UP for the Ocean!

Say NO to new offshore drilling

Dear Secretary Zinke,

I am writing to express my opposition to the federal offshore oil and gas drilling proposal your department put forth. If it moves forward, this proposal will have a devastating effect on our communities, coasts, economy, and climate, all for the benefit of one industry – big oil.  Turning public waters over to private oil companies flies in the face of the science, economics, public opinion, and the legacy of one of your idols - Theodore Roosevelt.

In 2016, the federal government finished an exhaustive look at offshore drilling and concluded that expanding offshore drilling was not supported by the public or the science. None of that has changed. In fact, the opposition has only increased along our coastlines in the wake of this proposal. 

More coastal drilling is not only out of step with our nation’s progress toward clean energy and energy independence, it is a blatant handout to private oil companies. This proposal will force taxpayers to continue subsidizing the fossil fuel industry when the majority of Americans have made clear that they want to preserve and protect these public resources, not sell them off.

The proposal also neglects the fact that our ocean and coastal economies are economic powerhouses, bringing billions of dollars into our coastal communities and nation. Many of those dollars are directly dependent upon a healthy, oil-free ocean and coastline. Your proposal threatens that, even willingly dismisses the importance of our ocean and coastal health. 

Secretary Zinke, I am outraged that the Department of Interior proposes to hand over our public waters to the highest oil bidder and I urge you reject the drive to drill in these cherished ocean places for oil that America does not need, just to bolster fossil fuel industry profits. The public has spoken and the science is clear. Please protect the American people, not oil companies, and put an end to reckless oil and gas drilling off our shores.