Support this ban on new offshore drilling
Nearly ten years after BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded — causing the worst oil spill in U.S. history — pollution lingers in the Gulf of Mexico.1
We need to prevent future catastrophes.
The seafloor around the site of the oil spill is a blackened wasteland. Deep-dwelling sea cucumbers and corals are replaced with tumor-ridden crabs and sticky, sluggish shrimp. Golf-ball sized clumps of oil and sand are buried along Gulf beaches, and may take up to 30 years to decompose.2
Now, the U.S. Senate has the opportunity to permanently prevent a similar ecological catastrophe.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 205: Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act of 2019, which places a moratorium on oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.3 This bipartisan legislation depends on the U.S. Senate for approval.
Offshore drilling is too risky.
The risks of offshore drilling are too dangerous for this already fragile ecosystem to bear. Seismic blasts — which are used to identify offshore deposits and can be heard up to 2,500 miles away — disrupt turtle mating, whale migrating, fish feeding and other marine activities.4
Additionally, offshore oil rigs are particularly susceptible to human and mechanical error, resulting in oil spills such as the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon disaster. The oil smothers small turtles, seabirds and fish. Marine wildlife are poisoned by inevitably inhaling and ingesting toxic crude.5
This bill will protect the Gulf Coast.
Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act of 2019 permanently extends a moratorium on oil and gas leasing and pre-leasing along the eastern Gulf coast. If approved by the Senate, this legislation will guard marine ecosystems and coastal communities from environmental tragedies, such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Passing this bill through the House of Representatives demonstrates political progress, but securing Senate approval will require all of us to work together. Join our campaign to oppose offshore drilling today.
- Jason Daley, “Deepwater Horizon Site Is Now a Sticky Wasteland Populated by Sickly Crabs,” Smithsonian Magazine, September 19, 2019.
- Jason Daley, “Deepwater Horizon Site Is Now a Sticky Wasteland Populated by Sickly Crabs,” Smithsonian Magazine, September 19, 2019.
- H.R. 205 — Protecting and Securing Florida’s Coastline Act of 2019,” Congress.gov, last accessed October 1, 2019.
- Harry Lester and Louis Bacon, “The Objections to Offshore Drilling Are Economic, Environmental and Bipartisan,” Washington Post, March 14, 2019.
- “How Oil Harms Animals and Plants in Marine Environments,” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, last accessed September 23, 2019.