March 9, 2018, is the deadline for submitting comments to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management stating the reasons why you oppose permitting offshore drilling in the Atlantic.
Submit your comments online at:
https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=BOEM-2017-0074-0001 Then sign the petition below also:
Secretary Ryan Zinke
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C St NW
Washington, DC 20240
Dear Secretary Zinke:
The Business Alliance for Protecting the Atlantic Coast (BAPAC) represents over 42,000 businesses and 500,200 commercial fishing families from Maine to Florida. We are writing to call on you to retain the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (five-year Plan) in its current form and deny any requests for permits to conduct seismic airgun blasting, an extremely loud and dangerous process used to search for subsea oil and gas deposits, in the Atlantic Ocean.
BAPAC recognizes that offshore oil and gas activities are fundamentally at odds with our coastal economies and our way of life. Our thriving East Coast businesses are inextricably tied to clean coastal waters that create jobs, and enable us and our employees to support our families and put our children through school. Oil and gas exploration and development activities threaten the vibrant coastal environment that supports nearly 1.4 million jobs and contributes $95 billion to the annual gross domestic product, mainly through tourism, fishing and recreation. If plans to allow Atlantic drilling move forward, our communities could face chronic oil and chemical leaks, as well as the potential for major spills like the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, on top of the industrialization of shorefronts by infrastructure needed for oil and gas development.
More than 140 local governments have passed formal resolutions opposing oil and gas exploration and/or drilling in the Atlantic or Eastern Gulf. Constituencies expressing opposition or deep concern include numerous local chambers of commerce, tourism and restaurant associations, the Florida Defense Support Task Force, commercial and recreational fishing associations, and the Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils.
We implore you to prioritize our businesses and communities by not altering the current five-year Plan, and oppose any attempt to open the Atlantic Ocean to seismic airgun blasting to search for subsea oil and gas deposits. Such offshore activities are a direct threat to our local economies, our bountiful ocean environment, and the very fabric of our coastal communities.
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