Oceana Demands Congress Reject Proposal to Expand Offshore Drilling and Dismantle Environmental Protections
Press Release Date: May 2, 2025
Location: Washington, D.C.
Contact:
Cory Gunkel, Megan Jordan | email: cgunkel@oceana.org, mjordan@oceana.org | tel: Cory Gunkel, 202.868.4061
On Thursday, the House Natural Resources Committee released its portion of the budget reconciliation bill, which would enact tax cuts while slashing a wide range of federal programs. The bill would mandate a significant expansion in offshore drilling and override critical protections for coastal communities and wildlife.
Oceana Vice President for the United States, Beth Lowell, released the following statement in response:
“The proposed legislation will put our oceans and coasts at risk. If passed, it would require a significant increase in offshore drilling and dismantle environmental laws that provide protections and safeguards for our oceans and coastal communities. Raising revenue for tax cuts for billionaires through a massive expansion of offshore drilling, and rolling back environmental laws in the process, is irresponsible and will jeopardize our future. Congress must reject this shortsighted proposal, go back to the drawing board, and protect the coasts that sustain us.”
The proposed provisions of the budget reconciliation bill would mandate at least 30 offshore oil lease sales in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico in the next 15 years at no less than 80 million acres each. It would also require at least five lease sales of no less than 1 million acres in Alaska’s Cook Inlet over the next 10 years.
In addition, there are broad waivers and exemptions for polluters and provisions that would undermine the Endangered Species Act (ESA), National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), and Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). These bedrock environmental laws have provided science-based, transparent, and accountable safeguards for decades.
This bill would provide the Secretary of the Interior with virtually unlimited power to waive environmental protections and prevent anyone from questioning the actions of the government in its oversight of drilling. It would also lock in outdated science and ineffective management of the risks to marine life from offshore oil and gas development.
For more information on Oceana’s campaign to prevent the expansion of offshore drilling, please click here.
Background
A 2025 Oceana analysis showed that the destructive legacy of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is still felt by people, wildlife, and coastal and ocean habitats today. The impact of the spill led to the loss of more than 25,000 jobs and $2.3 billion in industry output.
Between 2010 and 2022, more than 7,300 oil spills occurred in federal waters, an average of over one spill every day. There is currently an oil spill happening in southern Louisiana.
A poll released by Oceana in July 2024 revealed that two-thirds of American voters (64%) support their elected officials protecting U.S. coastlines from new offshore drilling, with similar support among registered voters in coastal states (66%). The poll also found this support grew among youth voters 18 to 29 years of age (70%).
The oil and gas industry holds more than 2,000 offshore drilling leases, and more than 80% of that ocean acreage is not producing.
