Dear NRDC Activist,

The Biden administration has put forward the boldest climate change and clean energy agenda of any U.S. presidency, starting with the president's Build Back Better agenda — but when it comes to offshore drilling, the administration is still struggling to break free from the fossil fuel giants.

The administration is moving forward with a destructive proposal to sell off over a million acres of Alaska's coastline around Cook Inlet to destructive offshore drilling — and they're accepting public input until December 13.

Act Now: Submit a public comment calling on the Biden Administration to SCRAP their Cook Inlet lease plan and commit to NO more new drilling lease sales.

The administration's move comes on the heels of an even bigger fossil fuel giveaway. Last month, the Biden administration oversaw the single LARGEST oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history, offering up over 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to the fossil fuel industry. We must fight to end these devastating lease sales NOW.

These lease sales would lock in fossil fuel pollution for decades to come at a moment when we need to be moving towards a 100% clean energy economy as quickly as possible — and encouraging the rest of the world to do the same.

While the administration has been prevented by a district court's order from carrying out its pause on new oil and gas leasing, it still has a legal obligation and the authority to protect the environment and public health by canceling the Cook Inlet lease sale and reforming its fossil fuel leasing program.

Alaska is home to one of the most endangered whales in the world — the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale — and a single oil spill could have devasting effects on the population, and would be catastrophic for marine wildlife, beaches, coastal communities, fishermen, and Indigenous communities.

It's been 11 years since the horrific Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico — when some 134 million gallons of crude oil poured into the Gulf — and tourism and wildlife still haven't fully recovered, despite years of cleanup. Yet the Biden administration committed to selling off millions more acres of the Gulf to oil and gas companies.

We can't continue selling our ocean to oil and gas interests. The Biden administration CAN and MUST choose to cancel the remaining lease sales in Cook Inlet and the Gulf and offer a new five-year program with no new leasing — but they're unlikely to do it without massive, nationwide public opposition from people like you.

Submit a public comment before the December 13th deadline, urging the Biden administration to cancel their Cook Inlet lease sales proposal and commit to no new offshore drilling moving forward!

Scientists say we must cut fossil fuel emissions at least in half by the end of the decade if we are to have any hope of staving off the worst impacts of climate change. Leasing large chunks of our ocean will shackle us to the climate-destroying fossil fuels of the past at a time when we must rapidly transition away from fossil fuels and toward 100% clean energy.

Can we count on you to send the Biden administration a clear message opposing offshore drilling — and urging them to double down on tackling the climate crisis?

Thanks for standing with us.

Sincerely,

Irene Gutierrez
Senior Attorney, Nature Program, NRDC