Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC -- Yesterday, a lease sale for offshore wind off the Massachusetts coast brought in a record-breaking $285 million in the first day of the auction alone.
Meanwhile, a sale for oil and gas drilling in the Western Arctic raised just over $1 million, bringing in bids for only 6 percent of the lands put up for auction by the Bureau of Land Management.
Interior Secretary Zinke is currently pushing to open up America’s public waters to offshore oil and gas drilling, and to sell off public lands including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which has been protected for generations, to fossil fuel companies.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
“Clean energy is winning, and Donald Trump and Ryan Zinke’s lies and propaganda cannot change that as they desperately try to prop up fossil fuel executives by selling out the Arctic Refuge and the rest of our public lands. The clean energy economy is creating new jobs and opportunities for people across the country while protecting our health, our communities, and our climate. Despite their best efforts, this backwards administration can’t stop this progress.”
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.