Help Stop New Offshore Oil Leasing
By Mark J. Palmer
The Biden Administration has proposed new leasing in US waters for more offshore oil drilling, with attendant noise impacts and the threat of oil spills, large and small.
The new plan by the Department of the Interior is a retreat from the administration’s original plan to end oil leases on public lands and waters in order to reduce global warming, but high gasoline prices at the pump and a lawsuit from several oil-producing states have pressured the administration to respond with some form of action. But offering new oil leases is not an appropriate solution. Many experts believe the administration has several options to get around the lawsuit.
The good news is that the new proposal from the Department of the Interior does not include any new proposed leases in the Arctic, Pacific or Atlantic Oceans. The proposal calls for ten potential leasing areas in the Gulf of Mexico and one area in Alaska’s Cook Inlet.
The proposal also notes that a final decision could result in no leasing at all.
This five-year plan for offshore oil leasing (2023 to 2028) is now open for public comment.
Most scientists are in agreement that any oil drilling and burning of fossil fuels should be phased out immediately if the world is to avoid the worst impacts from global warming. Since it takes five to ten years for new offshore oil wells to be developed before any oil flows, this new plan will not have any effect on current gasoline prices at the pump.
In addition to concerns about more global heating in the future, offshore oil drilling can result in dangerous oil spills that threaten fisheries and marine mammals. A new species of Bryde’s whale, called Rice’s whale, was discovered living in the Gulf of Mexico in 2021, and could be easily wiped out before we even know anything about it.
The Cook Inlet in Alaska is home to a seriously depleted and declining species of endangered beluga whales. Oil spills, toxic drilling muds used to lubricate drill bits, and underwater noise generated by seismic blasting and drilling are all detrimental to whales, dolphins and other marine life.
What You Can Do:
The Dept. of Interior is now taking public comments about the proposed plan. You can submit written comments online or by mail:
- Urge the Dept. of Interior to drop all plans for leasing more offshore oil drilling.
- Note that increasing global warming, underwater noise, and oil spills are not the way to resolve current energy issues.
- Urge the department instead to pursue green alternative energy sources, such as solar and wind, that are now in many cases cheaper than oil and coal.
- Thank the department for not including leases in the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
To comment online: Go here. Click the Blue Button for COMMENT.
To comment via regular mail:
Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Chief, National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program Development and Coordination Branch
Leasing Division, Office of Strategic Resources, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (VAM-LD)
45600 Woodland Road
Sterling, VA 20166-9216
Include on the outside envelope: Comments for the 2023-2028 National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Program
DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS: October 6, 2022
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The International Marine Mammal Project of Earth Island Institute works to protect the ocean homes of whales and dolphins around the world. We hope you will join us in supporting this vital work with a donation, along with commenting against the proposed offshore oil drilling plan. Our oceans, for too long, have been exploited without concern for the marine life that sustains our oxygen and suffers from global warming. Help end offshore oil drilling today! Thank you.
