What You Can Do to Help Stop Offshore Drilling

The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to slime wildlife-rich marshlands in Louisiana today. And some scientists are worried that currents could potentially spread the slick all the way around Florida and up parts of the Atlantic Coast to North Carolina, according to news reports.

The Baltimore Sun reports that it is possible -- although unlikely -- that the Louisiana spill could sweep all the way around to Georgia and the Carolinas. High winds and large waves have driven the oil slick and made containment with floating booms nearly impossible.

Meanwhile, debate continues to rage over whether the Obama Administration should allow drilling off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere along the East Coast.  The administration is reportedly asking for a study of the causes of the explosion on the Louisiana drilling platform before it moves ahead with any expansion of offshore drilling. 

But that does not mean that drilling in our region is off the table.  Virginia’s governor, for example, has expressed strong support for offshore drilling. In fact, Governor Robert F. McDonnell flew to Houston on Monday to "tout the benefits of offshore drilling at an industry-sponsored conference," The Washington Post reported.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation strongly opposes any drilling off the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The potential is too great that spills will destroy our  wetlands, foul our beaches, and kill countless numbers of fish, crabs and birds.

Several readers of this blog have written to ask: What exactly can I do to speak out against drilling off the Mid-Atlantic region?

“This is a big concern of mine,” wrote Susan Wichamann. “I contacted Senator Cardin's office yesterday and was told that Senator Cardin would not vote for a bill that contains off-shore drilling. They didn't seem to understand what I was talking about. It is my understanding that no bill is necessary for the VA drilling.  I want to take action and I want my representatives to do all they can to stop it as well.”

If you want to raise your voice against offshore drilling, one way you can do it is by writing to the federal Minerals Management Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.  This agency is evaluating whether to allow leasing of a parcel of ocean bottom east of Virginia’s Eastern Shore for oil and gas drilling. Click here to read the Minerals Management Service web page about the proposal to drill in the area east of Virginia called the "Lease Sale 220" zone. And the agency is also looking  into the possible evaluation of a larger swath of land off  the East Coast, from Maryland south to Florida.

You can send  your comments expressing opposition to offshore drilling  to PRPcomments@mms.gov.  If you prefer old fashioned mail, you can write to U.S. Department of Interior, Attention Leasing Division, 381 Elden Street, MS-4010, Herndon, Va. 20170.

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By Tom Pelton

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Comments

[Eileen Levandoski]

You can also join the Sierra Club and Surfrider Foundation in HANDS ACROSS THE SAND Sat., June 26, 11am in Virginia Beach, VA. We'll form a human line in the sand in protest to offshore drilling. For more info, visit www.HandsAcrossTheSand.com and click on Virginia.

There are additional MMS public comment opportunities including a hearing on the proposed EIS for Virginia's Lease Sale 220 on May 12 in Norfolk.

[Tom Pelton]

Thanks for passing on the times and places, Eileen. Those both sound like great ways for people to express their opposition. Mark your calendars.

[Bonnie Bick]

This is so serious. Seeing the Minerals Management Service web page makes me realize this proposal a lot more solid than I understood. We need to form a solid strong front against this proposal proceeding. The first time I heard Obama say he was embracing East Coast shore drilling that it is too potentially damaging to go forward. and that it would somehow be stopped. Now we are living with the awareness of constant gushing of oil with the sad feeling of powerless to help. I share with Susan Wichamann, the need to do something. Proposing off shore oil drilling at the mouth of the Chesapeake between Ocean City and Virginia Beach is totally inconstant with President Obama's designation of the Chesapeake as a National Treasure.

Thank you always Tom. I am a great fan of the Bay Daily.

[Tom Pelton]

You made my day, Bonnie!

I'm a big fan of your work, too, fighting to save southern Maryland from sprawl and pollution.

Keep up the good work!

[ora barlow]

Hi
I live in New Zealand. We live in a small coastal area off the East Coast of the North Island in New Zealand.
Petrobras, Brazillian based and the fourth largest oil and gas company has just been granted a permit to explore for oil and gas starting from a mere 4 km to 100 km off our coastline. Petrobras bid to the New Zealand government was supported by the Obama Administration.
We have all been watching the spill in the Gulf with great horror and sadness for the good people that live there and the devastation of their precious seas and sealife.

We would love to connect with anyone who feels the same way we do that profit at the expense of our precious environment must stop.

Yours
Ora Barlow
NZ