Californians Denounce Offshore Drilling Plan
BERKELEY, CALIF. – The public today voiced strong opposition to a Trump Administration plan to open the outer continental shelf (OCS) to offshore oil drilling at a meeting in Sacramento.
The Department of the Interior’s plan proposes opening more than 90% of the nation’s coasts to Big Oil for extreme energy development. Despite having over 1,100 miles of coastline, today’s hearing in Sacramento is the only meeting the Trump Administration has scheduled in California.
In response, Marcie Keever, Director of the Oceans and Vessels Program at Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement:
Trump is on a mission to turn over our public waters to the oil industry. The plan to allow oil companies to drill on our coasts is an appalling attack on our coasts, communities, and climate. Expanding extreme offshore energy development marks a new chapter in Trump’s reckless overreach to give away public lands and waters so oil executives can profit.
From Exxon Valdez to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, oil companies have proven they are willing to endanger everyone and everything living in and near the ocean, as long as they profit. Friends of the Earth – US is proud to stand with a broad coalition in opposition to the draft 5-year plan to expand offshore oil drilling in US federal waters. From the Pacific to the Atlantic and from the Arctic to the Gulf, we must continue our fight to safeguard our coasts from the ravages of an outdated fossil fuel industry.
Expert contact: Marcie Keever, (415) 999-3992, [email protected]
Communications contact: Patrick Davis, (202) 222-0744, [email protected]