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Did
you know that an industrial port, similar to those proposed off the NY/NJ
coast
will harass over 1,000 dolphins and whales
during construction,
and
over 700 whales and dolphins each year during operation?
TAKE
ACTION!
THREE industrial ports to import and store
liquefied natural gas
(LNG) -- a dirty, expensive foreign fossil fuel -- are proposed off the NY/NJ
coast.
To
learn more about these polluting and harmful projects, click here.
To sign a petition
opposing these fossil fuel facilities, click
here.
***Support the Clean Ocean Zone, which would prohibit offshore LNG ports***
STOP THE OIL SLICK OF LIES!
The oil industry is spreading lies about the impacts of drilling for oil and gas in the ocean and the effects of more offshore drilling on the price of gas. We should not sacrifice the ocean.
Citizens must demand that oil companies use the vast amount of resources they already have access to, and demand that the oil industry stop exporting domestic supplies of oil to other countries for higher profits. The US Government’s own Energy Information Administration says the impact on the price of gas from offshore drilling would be “insignificant.”
THE OILY FACTS
According to the US Government’s Energy Information Administration, the oil industry exported a record amount of oil in 2007 –
510 million barrels1 – to 55 countries2, and has already exported
over 219 million barrels this year through April 20083. According to the US Minerals Management Service, approximately 700 million barrels of oil is estimated to potentially exist in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) from Maine to
Florida4.
According to an investigative report, oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has led to areas around oil rigs that would qualify as Superfund sites and fish so polluted the Food and Drug Administration would prohibit their
sale5. Also, the US government said Hurricanes Katrina and Rita spilled
9 million gallons of oil, caused 5,000 minor spill responses in the
Gulf,6 and destroyed 113 rigs7.
OFFSHORE OIL &
GAS DRILLING THREATENS THE OCEAN
It is a cruel hoax – if you were to
believe the oil industry and their congressional cronies, all we’d have
to do to lower prices at the pump is to open-up the Atlantic and Pacific
Coasts to drilling. Don’t be fossil fooled! The
facts prove differently. Here are just a few facts from a federal
government agency source1:
FACT: The entire Atlantic
Coast contains a total potential of a few months of oil and about 1½
years of gas at current US consumption rates – and don’t hold your
breath or plan a major purchase with the savings. It will take up to 22
years to tap and get it to the pumps, and will only reduce the price a
whopping 5 cents at most.
FACT: The US uses 25% of
the world’s oil reserves, but we only have 3% of the reserves, so our
supply will never meet our demand.
FACT: Vast amounts of
offshore oil and gas sources are already owned by the oil industry, but
they have only used 18% of these areas. And get this – the oil industry
exported a record-breaking half-billon barrels of US-produced crude and
petroleum products last year. Think of it – sending US product overseas
when citizens want it here.
FACT: Oil drilling is a
dirty process, discharging millions of gallons of toxic drilling
waste-fluids into the ocean and sending piercing noises that impact
endangered whales and dolphins.
The truth: the oil
industry czars are using the petroleum panic to dupe us into drilling-up
our most fragile ocean resources, putting our coastal tourism and fishing
industries at grave risk, and threatening our quality of life. All the
while, oil companies are pocketing billions of dollars in record profits
on the backs of citizens and sitting on their own existing oil and gas
supplies that are ready and waiting now!
The real solution: local,
state, and federal leaders must focus on helping us implement real energy
conservation and alternate energy sources.
“Don’t Drill in Our Ocean!”
Why do you love the ocean? Do you surf, swim, fish, dive, or enjoy eating seafood? All of these activities are at risk with oil and gas drilling off New Jersey’s, and our nation’s, coast.
What can you do? It’s easy as 1-2-3!
1. Write a short letter to the editor of your local newspaper that opposes drilling for oil and gas in the ocean. Write why you support an ocean free of oil rigs and pollution.
2. Call your US Senator and US Representative and tell them you oppose drilling for oil and gas in the ocean. Call the US Capital Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your US Senator and/or US Representative (if you do not know, provide your zipcode to the operator). Fortunately, New Jersey’s Congressional Delegation (all except for one member – Rep. Garrett, R-5) opposes offshore drilling. Many of New York's Congressional Delegation members have opposed offshore drilling as well.
3. Tell friends, family, and co-workers the truth about oil and gas drilling.
1 U.S. Energy Information Administration, “U.S. Crude Oil and Petroleum Products Exports in 2007,”
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mttexus1A.htm
(in thousands barrels)
2 U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Exports by Destination,” http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_expc_a_EP00_EEX_mbbl_m.htm
3 U.S. Energy Information Administration, “U.S. Crude Oil and Petroleum Products Exports in 2007,”
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/mttexus1M.htm
(in thousands barrels)
4 US Department of Interior, Minerals Management Service, “National Assessment Results by Planning Area and Water Depth,”
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/offshore/gulfocs/assessment/NA99Results.xls
5 Mobile Register, "Mercury Taints Seafood," http://www.al.com/specialreport/mobileregister/index.ssf?mercuryinthewater.html
6 US Department of Homeland Security, US Coast Guard, “Report to Congress: Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund Hurricane Impact,” May 8, 2006,
http://www.uscg.mil/npfc/docs/PDFs/osltf_report_hurricanes.pdf
7 US Department of “MMS Updates Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Damage,” www.mms.gov/ooc/press/2006/press0501.htm
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