SUPPORT THE COZ

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 polluting, 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.” 


“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. 

See Clean Ocean Action’s press release below for information and links to US Government sources reporting the real, true impacts of offshore drilling, including the oil pollution and destruction of oil rigs after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the Gulf of Mexico. 

BUSH-WHACKED:
PRESIDENT BUSH CONDEMNS NATION’S COAST & OCEAN
TO OILY FUTURE
Federal Officials Ignore Real Cause of Price Hikes at the Pump

Clean Ocean Action (COA) condemns President George W. Bush’s actions to open the nation’s coast to destructive offshore oil and gas drilling. The President repealed the Executive Order, established by his father and extended by President Bill Clinton and President Bush himself, that maintained a moratorium to protect the nation’s coast from drilling. 

“President Bush has been swayed by the oil slick of lies by Big Oil. According to US Government experts, in the past year and a half the oil industry has sold more of our domestic crude and petroleum products overseas – to countries such as China, Columbia, Venezuela, and Japan, for example – than the total amount of oil that allegedly exists offshore from Maine to New Jersey,” said Cindy Zipf, COA Executive Director. 

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. 

“In the case of offshore oil and gas drilling, father knows best. It’s time to stop pursuing the destructive energy policies of the past and move forward into a cheaper, smarter, and cleaner energy future," Zipf added. 

Federal and State Support to Protect the Coast
New Jersey’s Congressional Delegation (all except for one member) have played a lead role in fighting to protect New Jersey and the nation’s coasts from drilling activities and have opposed any weakening of the moratorium in the past. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has repeatedly opposed offshore oil and gas drilling and urged fellow governors to oppose drilling. 

“Citizens must fight back to protect the ocean. There is too much at risk – marine life, tourism, fisheries, and our coastal way of life,” said Kari Martin, COA Policy Communications Director. “Offshore oil and gas drilling is not the future we want for our oceans. Citizens, groups, and elected officials have worked far too long and too hard to give our ocean away to Big Oil. Citizens must tell their US Senators and US Representatives to take any and all steps to stop efforts to this destructive addiction to fossil fuels.” 

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  

OFFSHORE OIL & GAS DRILLING THREATENS THE OCEAN, AGAIN!

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. Unfortunately, the President and some members of US Congress are busy buying into the topsy-turvy, 
deceitful spin of oil executives.