Prevent Another Oil Spill

Save marine animals from offshore drilling

Pod of beluga whales in Arctic waters. DK.

Turtles and Whales Need Your Help

Wherever offshore drilling happens, oil spills are inevitable. They put hundreds of thousands of innocent animals at risk – from walruses and whales in pristine Alaskan waters to sea turtles and dolphins in the warm Atlantic ocean.

We don’t have to imagine what a tragic oil spill could be like – we only have to remember last summer and the millions of gallons of oil ceaselessly gushing into the Gulf for months.

Attempt after failed attempt to stop the BP leak is a brutal example that we simply aren’t prepared for oil spills, no matter where they happen. And spills will happen...unless we prevent them.

Speak up by March 30 to prevent new offshore drilling for the next 5 years.

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Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the environmental impact statement for the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017.  As Gulf Coast ecosystems, economies and communities continue to suffer the effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, it is critical that the Department of the Interior moves forward with extreme caution and makes offshore leasing decisions based upon both a careful review of the potential impacts of drilling as well as an analysis of available alternatives to drilling. As such, we expect that the agency will undertake an extremely thorough review of the potential impacts of offshore drilling and will consider alternatives, such as offshore wind production, that do not cause potentially irreversible impacts to the environment.

The Department’s decision to exclude the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic and Pacific coasts from the proposed 2012-2017 leasing plan is commendable, and those areas should remain off limits.  Harmful seismic exploration in the Atlantic and continued leasing in the extremely harsh, yet sensitive environment of America’s Arctic, however, are still under consideration and should be immediately removed from the plan.

The decisions made as part of this process will provide important direction for our ocean resources and, in particular for Alaska’s Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.  Given the lack of baseline science compounded by the demonstrated inability to clean up oil spills and the deficiencies that have come to light after the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, there should be no new lease sales in the Chukchi or Beaufort Seas from 2012-17.

The Arctic is one of the most beautiful and forbidding places on Earth, where temperatures regularly plunge well below zero and the time between sunset and sunrise is sometimes measured in months rather than hours.  Despite these difficult conditions, a variety of people and animals have adapted to thrive at the top of the world.  The Arctic is home to many of our nation's most iconic wildlife species, polar bears, walrus, ice seals, bowhead whales, beluga whales and more.

Facing pressures of climate change and industrialization, a bottleneck for survival has been created in the Arctic Ocean, ultimately threatening wildlife and putting Arctic communities’ subsistence way of life at risk.  Exacerbating these pressures with environmentally damaging offshore drilling and increased greenhouse gas emissions is simply not a sound decision.

Similarly, high-intensity seismic testing proposed in the Atlantic should also be excluded.  Such intense, man-made underwater pulses can be extremely harmful to marine life, leading to hearing loss and changes in behavior that can disrupt feeding, mating, migration, and other habits that are fundamental to an animal’s survival.

On the Atlantic Coast, offshore wind could generate about 30 percent more electricity than could be generated by the technically available offshore oil and gas.  Attempting to do both in that region will only lead to competition, which will raise prices and increase the time to get the products (oil and wind) to market.  We urge you to prioritize promising clean energy for tomorrow over yesterday’s known dwindling pollutants.  Rather than expanding fossil fuel development that pollutes our air and our water, we should begin the rapid deployment of renewable energy.

As such, when preparing the Environmental Impact Statement for 2012-2017, it is imperative that you undertake a robust analysis that considers alternatives to offshore drilling; adequately analyzes the cumulative impacts to both the environment and coastal communities from drilling operations and large oil spills; undertakes a cradle to grave analysis of the environmental impacts from emissions resulting from exploration, development, production, transportation, and end use of offshore oil and gas; and adequately analyzes the potential impact to traditional subsistence communities as well as at-risk wildlife populations already suffering the impacts of climate change.

In closing, we appreciate this opportunity to comment on the environmental impacts statement for 2012-2017 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program, and the associated proposed offshore drilling plan.  As was vividly demonstrated last summer with the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, our country clearly needs a course correction in energy policy and, in doing so, we can help set the example for the world.

Oceana | Protecting the World's Oceans

Prevent Another Oil Spill