The Draft OffShore Oil & Gas Leasing Program is a proposal that would open up previously protected areas in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans, in addition to the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, to offshore oil drilling. This proposal would affect both the state of New Jersey and the nation at large. An oil spill has the potential to damage our state's and other states' tourism economies (which are billion dollar industries!) in the same vein that the Gulf of Mexico was damaged when the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred nearly eight years ago. It also has the potential to harm oceanic and terrestrial wildlife, affecting ecosystems and water chemistry for decades to come. Oil spills are not the only concern, however, as routine operations also pollute our oceans and waterways. This would not just be a local problem; it would be a coastal and a global problem affecting oceans across national borders and driving climate change that increases severe weather. Please contact your state representatives and senators, send comments to the White House, and sign this petition demanding the end of this proposal for environmental and economic reasons.
Thank you!
Echoing Climate Optimism (E.C.O.) of Stockton University
