
07.18.24
Join Surfrider in Urging President Biden to Protect our Coasts from Offshore Drilling
By Pete StaufferAfter decades of fighting to protect our nation’s coasts from offshore drilling, Surfrider Foundation is calling on President Biden to use his authority to permanently withdraw the Atlantic Ocean and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico from any future offshore oil and gas leasing.
Please sign the petition, make your voice heard, and encourage the President to take advantage of his extraordinary opportunity!
Surfrider has a long and proud history of defending our coasts from new offshore drilling. For decades, our chapters have fought to stop oil and gas development in the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. In 2017, we helped defeat a proposal by the Obama administration to allow drilling off the Mid- and South Atlantic coasts. Four years later, our advocacy compelled the Trump administration to abandon plans for new drilling in over 90% of U.S. waters. These successes have been fueled by the inspired activism of our grassroots network and growing opposition from communities, businesses, Tribes and the public.
Yet, impressive as these victories may be, they underscore a larger problem: Our coasts will never truly be safe until new offshore oil and gas drilling is permanently prohibited by the federal government. That is why Surfrider and our partners are calling on President Biden to use his authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to establish lasting protections for the Atlantic Ocean and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Prohibiting offshore drilling from Maine to Florida is necessary to protect our nation’s marine and coastal environment, communities, businesses, Tribes, and the public.
Offshore drilling is a dirty and dangerous practice that causes grave impacts through every phase of the process - from exploratory seismic blasting that harms marine life to the inevitable oil spills that damage the environment and communities. Offshore drilling also causes enormous harm on land through oil refineries that release toxic pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide, and which disproportionately impact lower-income and communities of color. Finally, offshore drilling is an existential threat to coastal recreation and tourism, which is enjoyed by millions of Americans and generates billions of dollars in economic revenue every year.
Even more concerning, offshore oil drilling worsens the effects of climate change as our nation and world struggle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The extreme weather events of this summer are just the latest reminder that we face a future of increasing heat, hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, rising seas and ocean acidification unless we take bold steps to end the burning of fossil fuels. Timely action by President Biden to end new offshore drilling could prevent billions of metric tons of carbon from entering the atmosphere. It’s also undoubtedly necessary if the U.S. is to achieve its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, as part of global efforts to address climate change.
Offshore drilling is wildly unpopular across the country with members of both major political parties opposed to expanded oil and gas development off our coasts. More than 290 communities, nearly 55,000 businesses, and 500,000 fishing families on the East Coast and Florida’s Gulf Coast are on the record in opposition to oil and gas drilling in their waters. Further, new poll results released by Oceana reveal that two-thirds of American voters (64%) support their elected officials protecting U.S. coastlines from new offshore drilling, with similar support among registered voters in coastal states (66%). The poll also found this support grew among youth voters 18 to 29 years of age (70%).
The last two Presidents, representing both parties, have used their authority under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to protect areas of the Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Gulf of Mexico. However, their actions either left out entire states or only provided temporary protection. During the 2020 campaign, Joe Biden committed to ending new offshore oil and gas leasing if elected as President. With his administration nearing the end of its term, now is the time for President Biden to take decisive action to fulfill this pledge!
Take Action
Please sign our letter to President Biden urging him to prohibit offshore drilling from Maine to Florida. Together, we can help end oil and gas development off our coasts!