Drop Washington State from Offshore Drilling

The current program in place put 94 percent of the OCS (Outer Continental Shelf) off limits for drilling. That changed January 4, 2018. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke decided to open up over 90 percent of the OCS acreage and over 98 percent of undiscovered oil and gas resources.

Secretary Zinke is quoted as saying “Responsibly developing our energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in a safe and well-regulated way is important to our economy and energy security, and it provides billions of dollars to fund the conservation of our coastlines, public lands and parks”. Yet this statement denies the ugly truth of offshore drilling. And that truth is this: It causes pollution, more human health issues (particularly respiratory), oil spills (of which only 10 percent has been recovered) devastates ocean life (and thus us as well) and causes more extreme weather events according to the
NRDC (National Resources Defense Council).

The NRDC also states that offshore drilling contradicts climate science, threatens coastal communities and directly goes against the clean energy solutions the American public favors.

Instead of being concerned that “the U.S. remains a global leader in offshore energy development” as Katharine MacGregor, Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary of Land and Minerals Management states there needs to be actual concern for the health of the American people and the earth we all share. We are sadly taking so many steps backward environmentally with the Trump administration this past year that it’s dizzying. How much more do you think our environment can take? Has the recent uptick in extreme weather taught the current administration nothing? How many more lives and homes need to be destroyed before they get the point that climate scientists might just be telling the truth?

Don’t be fooled. There is no such thing as environmentally sound or safe offshore drilling.
The Draft Proposed Program (DPP) includes 47 potential lease sales in 25 of the 26 planning areas-including 19 in Alaska, 12 in the Gulf of Mexico, 9 in the Atlantic Region and 7 in the Pacific Region including right here in the Washigton/Oregon Area. There have been no offshore sales in our region since 1984. Help me fight to keep it that way. Let’s work together to send a strong message to this administration that we will not tolerate making our already near dire situation worse. We are ready to make positive environmental changes in solidarity not just for ourselves but for our children and future generations. Let’s be the tide of change we wish to see in this nation.