Download federal policies are further reducing our nation`s

Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise (ACRE) * Alabama Coast United * Alabama State Association of Cooperatives *
Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE) * Big Mountain Dineh Nation * Bold Louisiana * Brighter Future Foundation *
Center for Biological Diversity * Center for Earth Ethics * Colorado Ocean Coalition * Earth Action, Inc. * Earthworks *
Elders Climate Action * Episcopal Peace Fellowship Pensacola * Energy Action Coalition * Environment America *
FANG Collective * Federation of Southern Cooperatives Rural Training and Research Center * Friends of the Earth *
Global Green * Great Old Broads for Wilderness * Greenpeace USA * Gulf Restoration Network (GRN) *
Hands Across the Sand * Idle No More SF Bay * Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) *
Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary * League of Conservation Voters *
Louisiana Bucket Brigade * Moore Community House * Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) *
North Gulfport Community Land Trust * Northern Alaska Environmental Center * Ocean Conservation Research * Oceana
* Oil Change International * Operation Homecare * Panhandle Watershed Alliance * People's Action *
Poor People's Campaign * Public Lab * Radical Arts and Healing Collective * Rainforest Action Network * REDOIL *
ReThink Energy Florida * San Antonio Bay Waterkeeper * SandyHook SeaLife Foundation * Sassafrass * Sierra Club *
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy * Steps Coalition * Tejas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (T.E.J.A.S.) *
The Environmental Justice Center at Chestnut Hill United Church * The Power Shift Network *
The Whaleman Foundation * Turkey Creek Community Initiatives * Turtle Island Restoration Network *
United Urban Warrior Society * United Urban Warrior Society * U.S. Climate Plan * Vanishing Earth *
Waterkeeper Alliance * We Are Cove Point * WildEarth Guardians * 350 Louisiana * 350.org
October 4, 2016
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Obama:
On behalf of the undersigned organizations and our millions of members and activists, we thank you for your
strong leadership in the fight against climate change. We urge you to build on the unprecedented progress
you have already made by ensuring no new leases in the Gulf of Mexico are included in the 2017 - 2022
Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program and immediately initiating a plan to pursue a just
transition away from the fossil fuel economy and toward a clean energy economy for this region.
To be clear, we oppose all new leasing in our oceans—Gulf, Atlantic and the Arctic. Our water is sacred
and life giving. But the problems and risks associated with oil and gas drilling have wreaked havoc on Gulf
of Mexico ecosystems and the livelihoods of residents in the region for decades. Further, as the recent,
devastating floods in Baton Rouge, Louisiana made all too clear, climate change is here today, and presents
a very real threat to the lives of Gulf residents, and millions across the globe. We must act as swiftly and
boldly as possible to move away from fossil fuels if we hope to avoid increasingly disastrous outcomes and
instead meet our commitment to the historic Paris Agreement to ensure global temperature rise does not
exceed 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius.
In this context, there is no justification for new leases to expand oil and gas production activities in the
Gulf of Mexico. U.S. demand for climate change-inducing fossil fuels is declining, new and expansive
federal policies are further reducing our nation’s dependence on oil, and vehicle technology improvements
are accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels.
Yet, as of 2016, more than 20 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico have been leased to the oil and gas
industry, with additional lease sales scheduled in 2017. Approximately 80% of the leased acreage has not yet
been developed while much of the producing areas will continue to produce for the foreseeable future. The
current glut of onshore natural gas supply and the projected decline in oil consumption in the decades to
come suggest these undeveloped, existing leases are sufficient to meet current energy needs for the 2017 to
2022 period and should allow the region sufficient opportunity to taper down production while shifting to a
low carbon economy. To the contrary, by the time the current unleased blocks may be developed, our nation
must be far down the road in its transition away from these fossil fuels and toward a clean energy economy.
Moreover, the oil and gas industry has wreaked havoc on the environment and communities of the Gulf of
Mexico for decades. The industry has repeatedly failed to do its part to protect local communities and Gulf
ecosystems, allowing pipeline bursts and rig failures to inundate the Gulf's coastal waters with oil and toxins
and harming the region's local economy. All of these accidents and spills occur against the backdrop of the
very real threat of another of another Deepwater Horizon disaster. The oil and gas industry must be held
accountable for these impacts before BOEM considers issuing any new leases. We urge you to do everything
in your power to require these companies to clean up their polluting, existing infrastructure, to hold their
facilities to the highest possible worker safety standards, and to pay for the damages they have imposed on
the region’s coasts and marshy wetlands.
Instead of continuing this pattern of harm, it is time to fully invest in a clean energy future. The Gulf could
be home to development of significant low-carbon energy alternatives. For instance, the U.S. Department of
Energy has highlighted the potential for offshore wind manufacturing and energy generation in the Gulf of
Mexico, predicting that offshore wind could generate 5,000 MW of power by 2030, supporting more than
20,000 full time jobs in the region. In addition, with proper support, the Gulf could continue to support good
paying jobs tied to fishing, recreation and low-impact tourism, including efforts like expansion of the Flower
Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.
Once again, we urge you to continue your leadership on climate change and protect the Gulf of Mexico from
the very real local impacts of oil and gas drilling and to help safeguard the world from increasing impacts of
climate change by ensuring no new Gulf of Mexico leases are included in the final 2017 - 2022 Outer
Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program and instead investing in alternatives that will help this region
transition away from the fossil fuel economy. Our members and the communities we work with will stand by
you when you do.
Sincerely,
Catherine Coleman Flowers
Executive Director & Founder
Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise (ACRE)
Michele Harmon
Founder
Alabama Coast United
John Zippert
Alabama State Association of Cooperatives
Jimmy Betts
Organizer
Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE)
Louise Benally
Big Mountain Dineh Nation
Cherri Foytlin
Director
Bold Louisiana
Stephanie Montalvo
Executive Director
Brighter Future Foundation
Miyoko Sakashita
Oceans Director, Senior Counsel
Center for Biological Diversity
Karenna Gore
Director
Center for Earth Ethics
Vicki Nichols Goldstein
Founder & Executive Director
Colorado Ocean Coalition
Mary Gutierrez
Executive Director
Earth Action, Inc.
Jennifer Krill
Executive Director
Earthworks
Adrienne Bloch
Senior Fossil Fuels Attorney
Earthjustice
Paul J Severance
Co-Chair
Elders Climate Action
William Sloan
Episcopal Peace Fellowship Pensacola
Avila Lydia
Executive Director
Energy Action Coalition
Margie Alt
Executive Director
Environment America
Nick Katkevich
FANG Collective
John Zippert
Director of Program Operations
Federation of Southern Cooperatives Rural
Training and Research Center
Marissa Knodel
Climate Change Campaigner
Friends of the Earth
Michelle Pyne
Director of New Orleans Office
Global Green
Shelley Silbert
Executive Director
Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Annie Leonard
Executive Director
Greenpeace USA
Raleigh Hoke
Campaign Director
Gulf Restoration Network (GRN)
Dede Shelton
Executive Director
Hands Across the Sand
Pennie Opal Plant
Co-Founder
Idle No More SF Bay
Dallas Goldtooth
Organizer
Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN)
Liz Theoharis
Co-Director & Founder
Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social
Justice at Union Theological Seminary
Alex Taurel
Deputy Legislative Director
League of Conservation Voters (LCV)
Anne Rolfes
Founding Director
Louisiana Bucket Brigade
Carol Burnett
Executive Director
Moore Community House
Franz Matzner
Beyond Oil Initiative Director
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Rose Johnson
Executive Director
North Gulfport Community Land Trust
Jessica Girard
Program Director
Northern Alaska Environmental Center
Michael Stocker
Executive Director
Ocean Conservation Research
Claire Douglass
Climate and Energy Campaign Director
Oceana
Stephen Kretzman
Executive Director
Oil Change International
Jackie Antalan
Director of Programs
Operation Homecare
Barbara Albrecht
Director
Panhandle Watershed Alliance
Liz Ryan Murray
Policy Director
People's Action
John A. Wessel-McCoy
Program Director
Poor People's Campaign
Stevie Lewis
Outreach Manager
Public Lab
Jayeesha Dutta
Co-Founder
Radical Arts and Healing Collective
Lindsey Allen
Executive Director
Rainforest Action Network
Princess Lucaj
Program Director
REDOIL
Kim Ross
President
ReThink Energy Florida
Diane Wilson
Executive Director
San Antonio Bay Waterkeeper
Dr. Thomas Armbruster
President
SandyHook SeaLife Foundation (SSF)
Jo Billups
Sassafrass
Michael Brune
Executive Director
Sierra Club
Todd Steiner
Executive Director
Turtle Island Restoration Network
Amelia Shenstone
Campaigns Director
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Joye Braun
President
United Urban Warrior Society
Roberta Avila
Executive Director
Steps Coalition
Evan Weber
Co-Founder & Executive Director
U.S. Climate Plan
Juan Parras
Director & Founder
Tejas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services
(T.E.J.A.S.)
Jonathan Henderson
Founding President
Vanishing Earth
Joy Bergey
Director
The Environmental Justice Center at Chestnut Hill
United Church
Lydia D. Avila
Executive Director
The Power Shift Network
Jeff Pantukhoff
President & Founder
The Whaleman Foundation
Derrick Evans
Director
Turkey Creek Community Initiatives
Pete Nichols
National Director
Waterkeeper Alliance
Donny Williams
Organizer
We Are Cove Point
Tim Ream
Climate and Energy Campaign Director
WildEarth Guardians
Renate Heurich
350 Louisiana
May Boeve
Executive Director
350.org