Tell President Obama: No New Offshore Drilling!

Dear MoveOn member,

I'm Sarah Rasmussen of Greenpeace, and I started a petition to President Barack Obama , which says:

Thank you for listening to the concerns from coastal communities and thousands of people nationwide by removing the Atlantic coast from the proposed five-year program for oil and gas leasing. This is a welcome move, but offshore drilling does not pass the 'climate test' you pledged for the Arctic, and new offshore drilling anywhere threatens the climate. In order to curb runaway climate change and join in the global effort to restrict climate change to less than 1.5 degrees, we MUST keep fossil fuels in the ground.

To that end, I'm asking you to remove the Arctic and Gulf coasts from the proposed five-year program for oil and gas leasing.

In addition to the negative climate effects, coastal communities and wildlife are threatened by these drilling plans. Livelihoods rooted in tourism, fishing, and other coastal activities could be harmed from seismic testing and oil leaks. Furthermore, seismic testing for oil and gas will injure wildlife, emitting blasts loud enough to deafen or kill whales and dolphins.

Please protect our climate and our coasts by leaving fossil fuels in the ground and stopping new drilling prospects off the Arctic and Gulf of Mexico.

The Obama Administration is considering a proposal that would allow new drilling in the Arctic and Gulf of Mexico — even after the President promised to protect the Arctic from the threats of climate change.

More drilling in these areas could mean more dead whales and dolphins, less jobs for fishing communities, and more oil disasters like Deepwater Horizon.

Our oceans are vibrant living ecosystems, not a sacrifice zone for oil companies. We cannot let our coasts be sold to the highest bidder.

If we want to avoid catastrophic climate change, protect whales and dolphins from deafening seismic blasts, and avoid more oil disasters like Deepwater Horizon, we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Submit a public comment to tell the Obama administration to protect our coasts!

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

—Sarah Rasmussen

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