Ian Brickey, ian.brickey@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the White House announced new protections for millions of acres of U.S. ocean from all future oil and gas leasing. The memorandum withdraws 625 million acres from leasing, including the entire eastern Atlantic coast; the eastern Gulf of Mexico; the U.S. Pacific coast of California, Oregon, and Washington; and portions of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska. These new protections will safeguard coastal communities and economies, marine wildlife, and ecosystems from the threats posed by offshore drilling.
Biden’s authority to make the withdrawals comes from Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Presidents of both parties, including every president in the 21st century, has utilized this power to remove portions of the U.S. coastline from oil and gas drilling.
Offshore drilling is hazardous and poses significant threats to communities and wildlife from oil spills, contaminated water, and polluted air due to the construction and operation of drilling operations. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst maritime oil disaster in history, released 4 million barrels of crude oil into the ocean resulting in $8.8 billion in natural resource damages.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous, released the following statement:
“This critical action is a major win for coastal communities, marine wildlife, and our collective future. In using the power of the presidency, the same authority used by his three immediate predecessors, President Biden is acting to safeguard the public health of coastal communities from the dangers of offshore drilling along with the marine wildlife that live in these waters. There will never be a safe way to desecrate our waters. As long as it is allowed to continue, offshore drilling and the pollution it causes will continue to present a threat to coastal communities, economies, and environments. We must continue to work to achieve a clean energy transition that ends our reliance on fossil fuels, grows the strong economy it has already built with family-sustaining jobs and preserves our clean water and clean air.
“The Sierra Club applauds President Biden for his leadership and further cementing his historic legacy of prioritizing our health, our collective future, and public lands and waters.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, 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.