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OFFSHORE STORIES
EVERY OIL SPILL BEGINS WITH A LEASE.
While decisions are made far from our shores, local communities face the real, world consequences: oil spills, pollution, and lost livelihoods.
These are their stories.
WE WILL NOT BE LEFT OUT OF THIS DECISION
Sign to demand a halt to offshore drilling expansion and ensure the communities living with the consequences are heard before new leases are approved.
TAKING ACTION ON THE FRONT LINES
Meet the people standing up to protect their communities from offshore drilling expansion.
mario
The ocean is part of who I am.
For those who grew up by the water, protecting the coast means protecting their way of life.
evelyn
My generation will live with the consequences.
In Corpus Christi, young people are organizing to defend the future of their coastal communities.
erandi
Breathing here comes at a cost.
Living near refineries means confronting the daily impacts of toxic air pollution.
francisco
The sea has been my whole life.
Decades of fishing have sustained Gulf families, families now threatened by oil expansion.
OUR FUTURE IS ON THE LINE
billion acres
of ocean could be opened up for new offshore oil drilling leases.
million jobs
in the U.S. depend on healthy oceans and coastlines, from tourism and fishing to local small businesses.
Over half of all marine species
could face extinction due to climate change and pollution.
billion
is generated every year by the U.S. ocean economy through tourism, fishing, shipping, and coastal trade.
million Latinos
live near oil and gas facilities, exposing these communities to higher levels of air pollution and health risks.
A UNITED VOICE
Communities are already dealing with the heavy burden of pollution. Organizations across the country are coming together to demand decisions that safeguard our health, the air we breathe, and our families’ futures.
“The future of life on America’s coasts depends on us standing up together now to stop the expansion of offshore drilling. We must prevent destructive oil spills and pollution and secure our vital coastal communities, wildlife, and economies that depend on thriving oceans, today and for future generations.”
Joseph Gordon
Campaign Director | Oceana
“The ocean is one of our most valuable resources, providing ecological, economic, and cultural benefits to the communities across the globe. Offshore drilling continues our reliance on fossil fuels, with detrimental impacts to our ocean and neighboring coastal communities. In order to combat the climate crisis, we must combat efforts to expand offshore drilling and instead seek to increase renewable energy sources.”
Val Schüll
Water & Ocean Program Director | GreenLatinos
“I’ve spent my life working alongside Gulf coastal communities, youth, and Indigenous leaders who understand that healthy oceans mean healthy families, resilient economies, and vibrant cultures. This campaign matters to me because what is at stake is far greater than a drilling lease, it’s the future of our sacred waters, the livelihoods of my people who depend on it, and the legacy we leave to the next generation. Together, we can and will continue to fight to protect the waters that have always protected and provided for us.”
Suraida Nañez-James
CEO & Founder | Gulf Reach Institute
“For the kids and families we work with, the ocean isn’t a commodity, it’s where they play, where they feel like they belong, and where a lot of them come to deal with stress and grief. Many of our young people had never been in the water until Un Mar de Colores. We believe one ocean touches all shores on both sides of the border, so offshore drilling doesn’t just threaten the coast, it threatens the one place that has given our community real belonging and healing. It takes from a sea that already gives us everything.”
Mario Ordoñez-Calderón
Executive Director | Mar de Colores
“Expanding offshore drilling is yet another giveaway to Big Oil CEOs, who will continue to rake in massive profits while coastal communities are left to shoulder the costs. Local families won’t see a dime of those profits, but they will bear the risks of oil spills, toxic pollution, and lasting environmental damage. Once again, the Trump administration is putting the interests of its Big Oil donors ahead of the health, economic security, and future of American communities.”
Jessica Ordóñez Lancet
Senior director of Energy and Environment Campaigns | Center for American Progress.
“The Trump Administration is handing over our costs to the oil industry. Our comunidades in Alaska, California, and the Gulf will pay the price first: polluted air and water, disappearing wildlife, and a climate that keeps getting hotter, while corporations cash the checks. We don’t have another 90 days to waste debating whether clean energy is the future; it already is, and every lease sale we allow only delays the transition our families need now.”
Antonieta Cadiz
Executive Director | Climate Power en Accion
“We are witnessing a wholesale liquidation of America’s natural heritage. By attempting to force offshore drilling onto our coasts, Donald Trump is telling us that our oceans, our beaches, and our marine life are entirely for sale to the highest bidder. It is a reckless gamble that is overwhelmingly unpopular from coast to coast. Millions of Americans are standing up to say our natural resources are not bargaining chips for corporate donors.”
Angelo Villagomez
Ocean co-lead for the America the Beautiful for All Coalition
“In Florida, the proposal to expand oil extraction in Gulf waters is not economic development. It is a direct threat to fishing and tourism, pillars of our coastal economy. It is yet another example of how this President’s priorities have once again shifted toward enriching his political allies through policies designed to benefit their businesses. He has made clear that he has little interest in the quality of life of people who dream of a better future for their families. Above all, he also fails to value the natural resources that belong to us all.”
Marcos Vilar
Executive Director
“Offshore drilling is already a rigged game – crony capitalism allows Big Oil to profit at the expense of communities’ health and well-being. Apparently, this is not enough for the Trump administration, whose five-year drilling plan makes things even worse. Environmental and economic justice means ending the cycle of sacrifice zones and refusing to trade the health of our communities and oceans for corporate greed. We will not trade our future for their profit”
Marcela Gutierrez-Graudins
Founder & Executive Director
MORE OFFSHORE DRILLING IS NOT THE SOLUTION
million acres
are already leased to oil companies, and only a fraction is actually being used. Before opening up new parts of our ocean, we must demand responsible use of existing permits.
increase
in electricity bills over the past year, even as the U.S. produces more oil than any other country in the world. More drilling doesn’t mean lower prices, oil is traded on a global market..
years
is how long it would take for any new oil production to reach the market, according to the administration itself. That means zero immediate relief for families.
THERE IS STILL TIME TO ACT.
Expanding offshore drilling puts our coasts, our health, and the future of frontline communities at risk.
But our voices can still make a difference. The public comment period will only be open for 90 days. Sign now to demand that decisions about our oceans include the very communities that will be impacted.
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