Massive oil and gas lease sale is a serious threat to Gulf communities, the climate, and could put the Gulf of Mexico whale one step closer to extinction: [link removed]

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Dear Friend,

Last week, the Biden administration auctioned off 73.3 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico to the oil and gas industry. Lease sale 259 is one of the largest offshore lease sales in U.S. history which could result in over a billion barrels of oil over the next 50 years. That’s nearly double the amount of oil expected from the Willow oil project, the drilling project on the Nothern Slope of Alaska that the Biden administration approved in March.

This excessively large lease sale in the Gulf unjustly imposes the burden of harmful industrial pollution onto Gulf communities, while lining the pockets of oil industry giants who are already reaping soaring profits. Toxic refinery emissions and other air pollutants are inevitable consequences of new drilling, and increase the risk of illnesses and chronic disease for people living and working nearby.

This lease sale will also further endanger the Gulf of Mexico whale, a species with fewer than 100 individuals remaining that faces dire threats from fossil fuel exploration and development. Unless protections are increased for the Gulf of Mexico whale, we could see the first human-caused extinction of a whale species in history. Join us in urging the Biden administration to protect the endangered Gulf of Mexico whale from extinction.

Continued oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico represents a clear, existential threat to the whale’s survival and recovery. Gulf of Mexico whales can recover as long as conditions improve, but that all depends on our actions.

Send a message today to urge the protection of these whales and solutions for their recovery.

Sincerely,
Steve Mashuda
Managing Attorney,
Oceans Program

TAKE ACTION: [link removed]

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