Trumps reckless ocean drilling order imperils coastlines
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Trump administration tomorrow will begin the process of allowing drilling off the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic coasts, according to reports. The executive order will allow Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to roll back protections on drilling for fossil fuels. The order could allow new oil drilling off the Pacific coast for the first time since the 1980s.
Marcie Keever, Friends of the Earth Oceans and Vessels Program Director, issued the following statement:
Trump’s effort to look busy on his 100th day in office by giving away our oceans to Big Oil is yet another example of how out of touch he is with the American people. From the 1969 Santa Barbara oil platform blowout, to the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill and the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, we know that oil spills happen, and can never be fully cleaned up.
The next oil spill is inevitable and will wreak havoc on our oceans, local economies and the lives of people who live on our coasts. Over and over again, oil companies have been irresponsible and reckless, endangering the livelihoods of people living near the ocean. The American people deserve an energy future that protects our oceans and our land, not one that devastates it.
New federal offshore drilling leases have not been granted for the Pacific Ocean since the early 1980s, but that didn’t stop Trump and Zinke from turning back the clock today on decades of environmental protections. We will stand with communities in the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic to fight against this giveaway of our oceans to Big Oil.
###
Expert contact: Marcie Keever, (510) 900-3144, [email protected]
Communications contact: Erin Jensen, (202) 222-0722, [email protected]