In less than three weeks, President Obama’s Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) is expected to release the final draft of its five-year plan for oil and gas development in federal waters. The first draft would have opened up Virginia’s coastal waters to offshore drilling for the first time — and thousands of Virginians pushed back.
As the Obama administration finalizes its draft plan, this is a critical time to keep the pressure on — and we need Virginia’s most powerful voices in Washington, D.C. to stand with us. That’s why we’re joining our allies, including the Virginia Sierra Club, Oceana and others, in urging Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner to declare their opposition to offshore drilling now.
Click here to tell U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner: Now is the time to say NO to offshore drilling for Virginia. Let’s protect our coast, not inflict more damage!
From Georgia to North Carolina to Virginia, a movement against drilling is growing. None of us wants to be the next Gulf Coast — where tar balls are still washing up on beaches from the disastrous BP oil spill. Since BOEM first announced plans to open the Atlantic Coast to drilling, more than 100 municipalities, 700 state and local officials, and roughly 1,100 businesses up and down the coast have said NO to drilling.1
For three decades, there has been a ban on offshore oil drilling in the Atlantic. Why risk so much now? Our coastal communities are already being flooded by rising sea levels. We can’t afford to enable more of the fossil fuel pollution driving climate change. Nor can we afford to endanger our growing coastal economy or some of our region’s greatest environmental treasures.
Instead, we can and should use our coast for offshore wind expansion: wind energy can lead to more energy and jobs in the future without putting our coast in harm’s way.
Now is the time. Urge Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner to say NO to offshore drilling!
While Senators Kaine and Warner have advocated for drilling off Virginia’s coast in the past, we’re beginning to see Virginia politicians — including the Virginia Beach City Council — back away from previous support. Now is the perfect time for our U.S. Senators to do the same.
Urge Senators Kaine and Warner to stand up for our coast: Say NO to offshore drilling!
This is another crucial moment in Virginia’s climate fight. This is just the beginning of an aggressive campaign across the state to keep these dirty fuels in the ground. With your help, I know we can do it.
1. “Grassroots Opposition to Atlantic Drilling,” Oceana.
