Offshore oil and gas drilling is a source of direct immediate and long term harm to the ocean’s health. Oil and gas drilling:

• Fuels the climate crisis,
• Disproportionately impacts frontline communities and communities of color, and
• Threatens our inland and coastal communities and economies.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), carbon emissions must drop to zero by 2050 in order to mitigate the worst impacts of global temperature rise. Yet a quarter of all fossil fuels produced in the U.S. come from federal lands and waters. The Department of the Interior must, right now, fully consider the far-reaching impacts of oil and gas operations in our nation.

The Biden Administration has the opportunity, right now, to authorize ZERO new lease sales in its 2023-2028 Proposed Program for new offshore oil and gas leasing. This is the first time that a no new leasing policy option has ever entertained. The Biden Administration should grab onto opportunity while it can to help ensure the United States is walking toward a just transition to decarbonize and mitigate the worst climate impacts.

If this Program moves forward with new leases, the U.S. government is condoning the continual sacrifice of frontline communities’ health and wellbeing from decades of continued oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. 
 
If we’re serious about acting on climate, we must stop all new leasing for offshore drilling. 

I call on the Biden Administration to support NO NEW LEASES.