Hundreds of Thousands of People Across U.S. Voice Opposition to Trump’s Plan to Expand Offshore Drilling

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Friday, January 23rd, marked the close of the 60-day public comment period on the Trump administration's draft offshore drilling plan, which proposes an unprecedented expansion off of Alaska, Gulf, and California coastlines. Nearly 300,000 Americans submitted comments in opposition to the proposed 34 oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska, and California. Scientists, faith leaders, businesses, and NGOswere among the hundreds of thousands of people who voiced their opposition to the draft plan.

Across the country, communities, local leaders, business and tourism advocates, and environmental organizations have been hosting a wave of public actions tied to the comment deadline, including people's hearings, town halls, and community events urging residents and elected officials to make their voices heard before the window for public input closed. In California, thousandsof residents have turned out for people's hearings in Santa Barbara, Marin, Monterey Bay, and Sacramento, with participation from elected and local officials including Sen. Adam Schiff and Rep. Jared Huffman. The opposition has also been echoed in recent op-eds, including from former Secretary of Defense and CIA directorLeon Panetta, as well as academic scholars, highlighting the broader national security and scientific concerns tied to offshore drilling. In Florida, local leaders and residents have gathered along the Gulf Coast, including on Pensacola Beachand in communities across Northwest Florida, to publicly opposenew offshore drilling.

"Donald Trump and Doug Burgum are once again trying to sell out our coastal communities and our public waters in favor of corporate polluters' bottom line," said Sierra Club Executive Director Loren Blackford. "Americans across the political spectrum have made it clear they oppose offshore drilling. We know the risks are far too great, threatening ecosystems and coastal economies with the risk of spills that would take decades to clean up. Despite overwhelming bipartisan opposition, Trump and Burgum are moving forward with their reckless plan to serve their ultimate goal of handing over our public lands and waters to Big Oil CEOs. These lease sales are privatization in everything but name - a 'keep out' sign is the same whether an area was sold or leased. The Sierra Club will continue to stand with coastal communities and work to stop this reckless plan dead in the water."

Last week - one day before the close of the comment period - activists wearing hazmat suits unveiled a large banner in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, reading: "Trump: No New Offshore Oil Drilling" to highlight the real-world risks coastal communities face if the administration's plan moves forward, including oil spills, toxic pollution, and long-term harm to fisheries, tourism, and marine ecosystems. See the photos here.

The majority of Americans across the political spectrum opposeoffshore drilling. Elected officials - from both Democratic and Republican parties - have expressedopposition to the plan. During Trump's first presidency, his administration tried to open every U.S. coastline to drilling, but the public backlash was so widespread that they reversed course in several states.

Oceanographers at Current Labhave also released new oil spill visualizationsshowing how quickly ocean currents and winds can carry surface oil away from spill sites - potentially transporting oil across large distances in just days. The visualizations are based on simulations using publicly available regional ocean circulation models and wind data from NOAA's Global Forecast System as well as regional response plans. The Florida model is particularly compelling, finding that oil would slam Cuba and wrap around the Florida peninsula, washing up on Miami's beaches and even reaching West Palm Beach - putting risk in the backyard of Trump's Mar-a-Lago club.

Coastal economies generatebillions of dollars in revenue and support millions of jobs in industries such as tourism, fishing, and recreation. Almost all offshore drilling in the U.S. - 99% of it - takes place in the Gulf, with the rest happening off the coast of Alaska. Communities in both regions have been burdened with ongoing harm to public health, ways of life, and their environments. Communities in the Gulf are still recovering and sufferingfrom the BP Horizon oil spill disaster, which cost over $60 billion in clean-up costs.

Holding more lease sales will primarily benefitoil and gas speculators, rather than American taxpayers. The most productive public waters are already leased, and conducting additional sales in areas with no interest in drilling will only waste the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's time and generate little revenue for taxpayers, while BOEM continues failing to enforce the oil and gas industry's obligationsto decommission aging offshore oil and gas wells and platforms in public waters.

Below are statements in response:

"Our country continues to use the Gulf of Mexico as a sacrifice zone to the oil and gas industry. The Trump Administration's plan to open areas in the eastern Gulf off of Florida, which have been protected under previous moratoriums, is reckless and dangerous for our working waterfronts, endangered species, and vital tourism," said Martha Collins, Executive Director for Healthy Gulf. "Our communities, our visitors, and our wildlife in Florida do not deserve the history of neglect that the oil and gas industry has left in the Gulf."

"As climate change continues to wreak havoc on our coastal communities, it is irresponsible to consider exponentially expanding fossil fuel extraction endeavors in the Gulf, Alaska and the Pacific by increasing the number of leases by 34," said Joanie Steinhaus, Ocean Program Director for Turtle Island Restoration Network. "We must not lock-in dependency on fossil fuels for decades to come at the expense of vulnerable habitats and endangered species."

"Adding 21 areas off Alaska's coast in the offshore plan isn't just misguided, it is a dangerous gamble with irreplaceable public waters and communities that rely on them," said Emma Powell, Federal Advocacy Manager at Alaska Wilderness League. "Industry walked away from Arctic waters decades ago because even they weren't comfortable with the risks associated with Arctic Ocean drilling and now is not the time to reopen that door. An oil spill in the Arctic Ocean would be nothing short of apocalyptic for coastal communities, irreplaceable wildlife, and the climate. This leasing program should not move forward."

"There's a reason that hundreds of communities and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in our region vehemently opposed offshore drilling when it was first proposed - the threats of oil spills to our communities, ecosystems, and economies are too great to risk. We share the deep concerns of communities in the Gulf and elsewhere that face the possibility of disastrous pollution from offshore drilling," said Megan Huynh, Leader of the Wetlands and Coasts Program, Southern Environmental Law Center.

"Trump is once again trying to implement his stale idea of opening the majority of our nation's ocean space to destructive offshore oil and gas development. Yet we know that coastal communities around the country do not want to risk their waters to the pollution and destruction drilling often brings. This administration fails to grasp even the most basic concept of benefits versus costs - the economic, community health, and human costs to this plan that would willy-nilly offer our ocean to the highest, most greedy bidder," said Sarah Winter Whelan, Executive Director, Healthy Ocean Coalition

​​"I responded to oil spills for decades. We're no longer ready for a big one. Once oil is spilled into the ocean, it begins to spread and move rapidly - making effective modeling and fully-staffed agencies essential for protecting sensitive shorelines, maximizing oil recovery, and minimizing environmental damage. But with the Trump Administration's drastic changes to the federal government, while proposing to vastly expand offshore oil and gas leasing, we are facing an extremely dangerous combination that will result in disaster. Our leaders must fully consider the consequences before moving this new offshore leasing plan forward," Doug Helton, former Regional Operations Supervisor in the National Ocean Services Office of Response and Restoration at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"The Trump administration appears to have taken aim specifically at places that have been protected for years because of the importance of their marine ecosystems, their fisheries, and their coastal economies," said Sierra Weaver, Vice President of Conservation Law for Defenders of Wildlife. "What does it say when our leaders declare those values meaningless in comparison to big oil."

"The federal government's offshore oil drilling plan will damage coastlines and communities, while threatening coastal recreation and tourism industries that contribute billions of dollars to our nation's economy. Offshore drilling is highly unpopular across the country and will increase the likelihood of yet another destructive oil spill off our coasts. Surfrider Foundation's chapter network will fight this proposal vigorously to protect all U.S. coastlines from the unnecessary risks involved with new offshore drilling," said Pete Stauffer, Ocean Protection Manager, Surfrider Foundation.

"From coast to coast, the message is as clear as our waters should be: no more oil spills. Not now. Not ever," said Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon. "Over 200,000 people used their voices to oppose expanded offshore oil drilling off our coasts during the latest comment period. Among them were national and local lawmakers from both sides of the aisle - including the entire Florida congressional delegation and the governors of Florida and North Carolina. They also included thousands of businesses, hundreds of scientists, dozens of faith groups, U.S. military leaders, and coastal community members for whom this threat is literally on their doorsteps. The people have spoken, and now the administration must act. For the health and future of our coastlines, the Trump administration must heed this overwhelming call from Americans everywhere and revise its draft plan to protect our coasts."

"In Santa Barbara we know first-hand the danger of offshore oil drilling. The catastrophic 1969 Santa Barbara Oil Spill and the 2015 Plains Oil Spill are examples that there is no way to drill for new oil without causing devastating impacts to our coastal environment, tourism and recreation, and economy," said Maggie Hall, Deputy Chief Counsel, Environmental Defense Center.

"Our regional economic base relies on decades of bipartisan effort at protecting national treasures that are dependent on a clean coast, so deliberately sacrificing our economy makes no sense at all," said Richard Charter, Director of the Local Government OCS Coordination Program, "Using the destructive tactics we're seeing in today's offshore drilling plan as a political punishment for any one state is certain to backfire."

"This plan is a dangerous gift to the oil and gas industry at the expense of our planet and shared future. This administration wants to open vast new areas of the West Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska to drilling - gutting environmental safeguards and endangering communities in the process. Latino voters across the country, and across party lines, overwhelmingly reject more offshore drilling, as seen in our 2024 National Azul Poll. Our communities have lived the consequences of oil spills and pollution, and they are calling on our leaders to move us beyond fossil fuels," said Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, Founder and Executive Director, Azul.

"From the Gulf, to California, and Alaska, hundreds of thousands of Americans are loudly and clearly saying no to the Trump administration's plan to expand offshore drilling in the U.S." said Earthjustice senior attorney Brettny Hardy. "Trump's plan would risk the health of millions of people who live along our coasts, thousands of businesses that depend on our oceans remaining clean, and countless ecosystems. It would also put us on a path to an even worse climate crisis characterized by extreme weather events. Trump should listen to this chorus of opposition and walk away from his unpopular plan to drill for oil and gas in our oceans."

Michael Stocker, Founding Director of Ocean Conservation Research stated simply: "In the face of the now-inevitable climate catastrophe, declaring an 'Energy Emergency' to justify opening up millions of acres of the Outer Continental Shelf for the expansion of fossil fuel 'energy dominance' is clearly psychotic. We are being told that 'Climate Change is a hoax,' but we are never told who is perpetrating this 'hoax,' and to what end?"

"This irresponsible draft proposal presents a grave threat to the United States' marine ecosystem, our coastal communities, and the robust fisheries, tourism, and other industries that depend upon abundant and diverse marine life," said Priscilla Brooks, Vice President for Ocean Conservation, Conservation Law Foundation. "From start to finish, oil and gas leasing, seismic exploration, and development of projects are risky, harmful, and unnecessary. Opening our waters to oil and gas drilling will only fuel the climate crisis and put us at risk of catastrophic oil spills. We need to transition to safer, renewable forms of energy, not expand dangerous, dirty fossil fuel infrastructure."

"As if selling off our public lands weren't enough, the Trump administration's offshore drilling plan aims to hand our ocean to oil companies. Opening California, the Gulf of Mexico, parts of Florida, and large areas of Alaska puts coastal economies, communities, and wildlife at risk," said Taryn Kiewkow Hiemer, director, Ocean Energy at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council). "Worse, pushing into the Arctic is especially reckless as clean-up is nearly impossible in the hostile conditions that exist there.Tens of thousands of people these states have been clear that they don't want this off their coasts, threatening their livelihoods and way of life. We should be building affordable, reliable renewables, not padding the oil industry's profits."

"Offshore drilling decisions reverberate far beyond the policy table; they are a direct threat to the coastal communities and economies that depend on a thriving ocean. New oil and gas leasing would put nearly 40% of coastal Americans at risk. These regions generate more than $400 billion each year through tourism, recreation, fisheries, and shipping industries. All of that relies on one thing: a healthy, living ocean. Our coasts are home to the unmistakable calls of beluga whales, the playfulness of sea otters and the intricate architecture of coral cities. They nourish us, protect us from storms, clean our waters, store carbon and anchor both our livelihoods and our sense of wonder. Opening new offshore waters to drilling would sacrifice the health of our coasts, undermine rather than strengthen our economy and drag us backward to an era before science gave us cleaner, safer alternatives," said Dr. Bridget Coughlin, President & CEO, Shedd Aquarium.

"We have learned devastating lessons from the impacts of offshore oil development off California, in the Gulf, and elsewhere. We know that the foundation of thriving coastal communities and their economies is a healthy, vibrant ocean. We hope Californians and all Americans can act together, once again, to ensure a future free of the threat of offshore drilling," said Julie Packard, Executive Director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

"South Carolina's citizens and leaders are already on record in our collective opposition to offshore drilling that could compromise our state's fragile ecosystems and quality of life," said Kevin Mills, South Carolina Aquarium President and CEO.

"Opening up the potential for new fossil fuel development in biodiverse and ecologically important ocean habitats unravels decades of work done to protect marine and coastal ecosystems and bolster the communities and businesses that depend on them," said Jennifer Driban, Chief Mission Officer of the National Aquarium. "Instead, we can and should prioritize clean energy solutions that will improve public health, reduce costs, and help protect the wildlife we love, now and in the future."

"As anglers, we depend on a healthy ocean, not oil rigs," said Anupa Asokan, Founder and Executive Director of Fish On, a California-based fishing interest organization working to protect the ocean on behalf of recreational fishing communities. "Offshore drilling threatens the waters we love, the fish we chase and communities everywhere. Inevitable oil spills will immediately shut down fishing, and even after the oil is cleaned up, the pollution and damage to marine life and our fisheries lasts for decades. The fishing community opposes this reckless proposal to sell off our coast."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.