Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC – The Biden administration’s Department of the Interior announced last night that it will not hold three planned lease sales for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Alaska. With these cancellations, the administration has ruled out selling off new public waters for oil and gas drilling this year. The administration is expected to release a new five year plan for offshore waters sometime this year.
In response, Sierra Club Lands Protection Director Athan Manuel released the following statement:
“This is a major win for coastal communities, ecosystems, and the climate. Communities in the Arctic and the Gulf Coast have already been subjected to the threat of offshore drilling disasters for far too long, and suffer disproportionate harms from this dangerous and polluting activity, as well as worsening extreme weather caused by fossil fuel-driven climate change. At a time when we need to be rapidly transitioning away from dirty oil and gas to meet our climate commitments and avert the worst of the climate crisis, the last thing we need is to sell off even more of our waters to the fossil fuel industry. We applaud the Biden administration for taking this critical action to protect communities and climate this year, and now we urge them to finish the job by committing to no new offshore drilling leases, period.”
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.