Last month, climate activists from Virginia to Georgia celebrated a huge victory as President Obama scratched our region from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) draft offshore drilling plan. That decision was the culmination of years of hard work from a diverse and aggressive coalition of groups across the region that refused to allow big polluters to risk our coastline for their climate-denying greed.
This work began heating up last spring when CCAN joined other groups across Virginia to collect written comments in opposition of BOEM’s first draft of the offshore drilling plan that included our coast. Thousands of you sent comments to Washington in the short 90-day comment period, proving that the entire Commonwealth was not in favor of our coast being put at risk. Activists showed up in droves at public listening sessions to ask questions and deliver their comments as well. When that comment period was over, one thing was clear: A formidable coalition had been created and we weren’t going away any time soon.
This year, BOEM announced that they would be releasing their final draft plan for offshore drilling, and climate activists from Virginia to Georgia went on the offensive to expand our anti-drilling coalition to businesses and municipalities. In just three months, we saw over 100 municipalities across the southeast pass resolutions that opposed offshore drilling. In Virginia, the city of Virginia Beach reversed their support for drilling, and Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam came out in vigorous opposition of offshore drilling. After that groundswell of support, where even the U.S. Navy voiced concerns, President Obama only had one option: Keep it in the ground!
All of this is definitely worth celebrating! However, we must remember that our friends in the Gulf and the Arctic were still left on BOEM’s final draft plan for offshore drilling. Even though they have already seen the detrimental effects of drilling, they must continue to fight and convince President Obama that drilling anywhere is a problem EVERYWHERE. So, please join the fight by signing this petition to President Obama.
I look forward to the victories that we’ll celebrate in the future.