Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org
Anchorage, AK -- Today, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced it will begin the process for an offshore drilling lease sale in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea.
The sale would take place in 2019 as part of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s much maligned plan to expand offshore drilling into nearly every corner of America’s waters, which has not yet been finalized.
Almost all of the Beaufort Sea was permanently placed off limits to drilling under the Obama administration. A court recently ruled that a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s attempt to roll back these protections will move forward.
In response, Athan Manuel, Director of the Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program, issued the following statement:
“Once again, this administration is overreaching in its attempts to hand over America’s lands and waters to corporate polluters. We will fight back against this reckless and illegal attempt to allow the fossil fuel industry to foul the Arctic with oil rigs.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.