Surfrider celebrates President Biden’s historic action to permanently withdraw the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and parts of the Northern Bering Sea from future offshore drilling.
On January 6, President Biden announced the withdrawal of the entire U.S. East Coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California, and additional portions of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska from future oil and gas leasing. The President’s historic action, taken under the authority of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, permanently protects more than 625 million acres of U.S. waters from any future oil and gas development in 5-year offshore drilling plans developed by the federal government. It also helps fulfill a commitment made by President Biden during the 2020 campaign to end new offshore oil and gas leasing.
"The Surfrider Foundation applauds the Biden administration for withdrawing these waters from future oil and gas leasing. Offshore drilling is a dirty and damaging practice that harms our ocean as well as communities and businesses, while worsening climate change. The President's historic action is a key step toward ending oil and gas drilling in U.S. waters. We call on our federal leaders to take further steps to ensure that all U.S. coasts are protected from this harmful industry," said Dr. Chad Nelsen, CEO of the Surfrider Foundation.
Offshore drilling 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.
The economic reality is that coastal tourism and recreation generate $160 billion annually and support 2.5 million American jobs – far outweighing offshore oil and gas production, which contributes $96 billion and only 12,000 jobs nationally. As a net oil exporter since 2020, with 1.64 million barrels per day in exports in 2023, the United States is already energy independent. We have the technology to transition to clean energy; we just need the political will to implement solutions that will provide a cleaner, safer, and more secure future.
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 past year 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. President Biden’s action will prevent additional carbon pollution from entering the atmosphere and is 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 highly unpopular across the country with members of both major political parties opposed to expanded oil and gas development off our coasts. More than 390 communities, nearly 55,000 businesses, and 500,000 fishing families across the U.S. are on the record in opposition to oil and gas drilling in their waters. Further, a poll released by Oceana revealed 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 executive authority to protect public waters from new offshore drilling under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) has been used on a bipartisan basis by every president this century, including both President Obama and President Trump. Presidential withdrawals under OCSLA are durable because, once created, only Congress has the power to revoke them. The law authorizes presidents to withdraw areas from oil and gas leasing but does not authorize future presidents to undo withdrawals.
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.
President Biden’s action is a major step towards ending offshore drilling in the U.S., but our work is far from done. While we are celebrating the protections announced today, communities in the central and western Gulf of Mexico live day to day with the impacts of oil and gas drilling and were left out of these protections. In fact, 97% of federal offshore oil and gas drilling occurs in the Gulf of Mexico. Communities living near offshore oil and gas operations in the Gulf are forced to live with dangerous pollution, extreme storms, and all the impacts of extracting and consuming fossil fuels. Gulf communities cannot be a sacrifice zone and must be protected from oil and gas drilling.
Surfrider Foundation expresses our heartfelt gratitude to key coalition partners, including Oceana, Sierra Club, Earthjustice, Healthy Gulf, America the Beautiful for All, Surf Industry Members Association, regional business alliances, and others for their collaboration. We also wish to thank all the communities, businesses, Tribes, and members of the public who have fought tirelessly for years, and in some cases, decades, to protect our coasts from new oil and gas development. Your efforts are an inspiration and a testament to the power of civic engagement!