Drilling Proposal is Risky Business for the Shore

On January 4, 2018 the Department of the Interior released a Draft Proposed Plan for new offshore oil and gas leases. This radical proposal puts over 90 percent of our offshore waters up for lease to the oil and gas industry. At the American Littoral Society, we believe in standing up for what we love and ask you to join us by adding your voice in opposition to this plan by March 9th.

Jacques Cousteau said, “The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat.”

Now, from coast to coast we find ourselves in the same boat. This ill-conceived leasing plan puts our coastal communities, health, and national security in harm’s way. Additionally, it puts tourism economies at risk of being destroyed; historic fishing livelihoods are only one spill away from being shut down and devastated for years; and decades of living and playing along our beautiful oil-free shores could be completely swept away by a dirty, polluting industry.

The fact is that opening our ocean and coasts up for oil and gas exploration and extraction threatens the entire U.S. coastline and the multi-billion-dollar coastal economies they support.

If this plan moves forward, we will hamper progress in the battle against climate change. We must fight back against this proposal to open the majority of our coastal waters to drilling, which will continue adding damaging fossil fuels to our atmosphere. This is an unconscionable proposal at a time when, because of a changing climate, New Jersey and many other coastal states are struggling with stronger and more frequent storms battering our coasts - causing tremendous financial and emotional damages.

In many of our communities, flooding from sea level rise is a daily reminder of one of the many consequences of climate change. We simply cannot afford to continue contributing to the already persistent climate change challenges by pursuing a plan for more drilling of fossil fuels in our ocean. Instead, our energy future must be one of conservation and clean, renewable sources as envisioned by New Jersey and many other states.

Here in New Jersey, the American Littoral Society fought for years alongside many others to clean up ocean dumping and pollution. We didn’t do that to turn it over to Big Oil to pollute all over again. This proposal is a giveaway to the oil and gas industry and why citizens must speak up louder than ever before to protect our environment and coastal economies all around the country.

The American Littoral Society has joined with our federal and state representatives, dozens of New Jersey municipalities, business, and industry groups in speaking out against this plan. We are asking you to join us in opposition by sharing your personal stories.

Your individual opposition is the most powerful of all to convey to our federal representatives why this plan must be abandoned. Stories about the importance of clean water and healthy coasts to the economy and our quality of life; highlighting the marine life you care about that would be threatened; the number of members in your beach association and how this would affect your homes and investments collected; information about your fishing trips and fish caught. If you own a shore business, share your economic data if possible. Convey how much you spend to rent a home at the shore or to join a beach club; talk about how often you eat local seafood each year; or share how long your family spends at the beach and how important it is to your families.

We are working to empower citizens to make raising your voice as easy and meaningful as possible. Your comments must be submitted to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management by March 9th and you can visit our website littoralsociety.org for information about where to send your comments or to view a sample letter.

Thank you.

Helen Henderson

Ocean Program Manager

American Littoral Society