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For more than two decades, most of America's coastline has been off-limits to oil and gas drilling, protected by executive orders signed by both President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton and a congressional moratorium extended each year. Those who want to overturn the offshore drilling moratorium have vowed to renew their efforts, and we have already seen a wave of Congressional and administrative attacks with attempts to weaken coastal protections or abolish the offshore drilling moratorium altogether.
In December 2006, the "lame duck" House and Senate passed an offshore drilling bill, which opens up 8 million acres of Gulf of Mexico waters to new oil and gas drilling, as part of a $45 million "tax extenders" package that President Bush signed into law.
It was a move that will just add to the billions in profits already being made by Big Oil, do nothing to lower gas prices for American families or energy costs for American business, and will keep our nation dangerously dependent on oil. It's clear that drilling proponents see this vote as the first of many steps in their quest to open every inch of America's coastline to destructive oil and gas drilling, and we can expect more of the same from them.
Tell the Administration that you do not want our coasts opened up to destructive oil and gas drilling.