John,

A new bill, introduced by U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and John Barrasso (Wyo.), would increase oil and gas drilling in America's public lands and the ocean.1

This bad energy bill would require offering 60 million acres of the ocean for offshore drilling every year. It could enable more coal mining and more drilling on our public lands, with fewer environmental safeguards.2

In short, this bill would lock us into more fossil fuel pollution and sell off our special places for dirty drilling and mining.

We have to stop it. Tell our U.S. senators: Don't expand mining and drilling in public lands or the ocean.

Oil drilling is a disaster waiting to happen.

Remember the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010? It was the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, spilling 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. That's equivalent to 200 olympic-sized swimming pools filled with oil.3

The oil spill killed at least 60,000 sea turtles. More than 1,000 dolphins died.4 It's hard to forget the horrific images of sea animals dripping with crude oil as rescuers desperately tried to save them.

But despite the dangers of drilling, oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been growing in the last decade, and this bill would make it even worse.5

Urge our U.S. senators to reject this pro-drilling bill.

To be fair, the bill would promote some renewable energy projects too. But it requires millions of acres of land and waters be leased to oil and gas drilling before wind and solar projects can proceed.

That's akin to your doctor giving you a gym pass but mandating you smoke two packs of cigarettes before using it. It's wrongheaded and unnecessary.

We shouldn't chain renewable energy development to more drilling, more oil spills and more pollution. Take action to help stop this bad energy bill in its tracks.

Thank you,

Ellen Montgomery

1. "S.4753 - A bill to reform leasing, permitting, and judicial review for certain energy and minerals projects, and for other purposes.," Congress.Gov, July 23, 2024.
2. Lisa Frank, "STATEMENT: Rush to drill would wreck lands, ocean and climate," Environment America, July 30, 2024.
3. "Oil spills," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, last accessed August 13, 2024.
4. "Sea Turtles, Dolphins, and Whales - 10 years after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill," NOAA Fisheries, September 10, 2021.
5. Ivan Penn, "Oil Companies Expand Offshore Drilling, Pointing to Energy Needs," The New York Times, May 3, 2024.