Officials in the Bush/Cheney Interior Department intend to allow harmful new drilling in tens of millions of environmentally sensitive acres off the coast of Alaska, including an area closed to drilling after the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. Federal officials have also proposed new drilling leases off the coasts of Florida and Virginia.

These areas are teeming with wildlife, including imperiled whales, sea otters and sea turtles. New drilling could destroy these important coastal ecosystems and the wildlife and tourist economies that depend on them.

We need thousands of concerned conservationists to demand that the administration rescind this destructive proposal immediately. Sign this petition today to urge Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne to stop trying to hand over our coasts to Big Oil!

Dear Secretary Kempthorne,

I am writing to oppose the Department of the Interior proposal to open our nation's environmentally sensitive coasts to offshore drilling. Specifically, I urge you to rescind the Five-Year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2007-2012 (FR Doc. E7-8339).

At a time when we should be pursuing clean, renewable energy sources, the Bush/Cheney Administration has once again sought answers in a dirty drilling plan that will harm wildlife and speed up global warming.

Drilling rigs spew air pollution and toxic mercury emissions that can poison marine wildlife. The very loud airgun explosions from seismic exploration can cause whales to strand themselves on beaches and die.

Increased offshore drilling raises the specter of another cataclysmic oil spill that could wreck the beautiful Virginia and Florida beaches where millions of Americans live or vacation.

Please stay true to your department's mission to protect our nation's natural and cultural resources, and rescind this plan to drill off the coasts of Alaska, Virginia and Florida.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your address]