Offshore Wind
Offshore wind promises a future of clean, abundant energy.
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Seismic Airgun Blasting
Seismic airgun blasting threatens marine life, coastal communities, and local economies.
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Offshore Drilling
Opening new areas to offshore drilling poses dangerous and unacceptable risks.
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Overview
Oceana uses science and advocacy to drive policies aimed at stopping climate change. Our three current areas of focus are preventing offshore drilling, preventing seismic airgun blasting, and promoting responsibly-sited offshore wind energy.
Perhaps the gravest threat to our oceans and our planet is a changing climate. Unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are warming the planet and disrupting weather patterns, leading to flooding, melting ice, rising seas, droughts, and the devastation of ecosystems on land and at sea. Oceans are among the most effective buffers against climate change, but as more carbon is absorbed by the oceans they become more acidic, reducing their capacity for absorbing fossil fuel emissions. This acidification is killing shellfish and corals—vital components of the entire food web—threatening marine populations from the smallest polyps to the largest whales. Oceana is determined to help end our dependence on dirty fossil fuels, the leading source of carbon pollution on the planet. We use science, advocacy, communications, litigation, and grassroots organizing to win policy victories that prevent the expansion of offshore drilling and seismic airgun blasting, and that promote the responsible development of clean offshore wind energy.
Victories
October 1, 2020
Seismic Airgun Blasting Efforts Halted in Atlantic Ocean
Oceana and a coalition of groups filed suit in U.S. federal court and won a ruling stopping the government from granting permits allowing this dangerous and deadly practice and effectively stopping it from going forward in the Atlantic Ocean as planned. Seismic airguns create one of the loudest manmade sounds in the ocean to search for oil and gas beneath the seafloor, which can injure or kill marine animals from zooplankton to critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. Oceana, our allies, and thousands of coastal communities and businesses have campaigned against this dangerous practice for years. This long-fought legal battle challenged the issuance of Incidental Harassment Authorizations (IHAs), which are federal government-issued permits needed by seismic companies to harass and harm ocean animals while blasting the Atlantic Ocean.
September 10, 2020
Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina Protected from Offshore Drilling for 10 Years
U.S. President Trump withdrew the waters off Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina from offshore oil and gas leasing for 10 years. This was a reversal of President Trump’s previous plan to open nearly all U.S. waters to offshore drilling, threatening more than 2.6 million jobs and nearly $180 billion in GDP in pursuit of only two years’-worth of oil and just over one year’s-worth of gas at 2018 consumption rates. This victory follows years of campaigning by Oceana, its advocacy partner Oceana Action, and its many allies. The campaign organized opposition from coastal communities, business owners, and elected officials from both political parties. Oceana continues to campaign for permanent federal-level protections of all U.S. waters from expanded drilling.
August 5, 2020
Virginia’s Coast and Fisheries Protected from Offshore Drilling
In the United States, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill into law that protects Virginia’s beautiful and abundant ocean by prohibiting the exploration, development, and production of offshore oil and gas oil drilling in Virginia waters. The law also prohibits construction of any infrastructure to support drilling off Virginia’s coast, and prevents the state’s agencies from taking any action to facilitate oil and gas production. Offshore drilling threatens more than 86,000 jobs and $44.8 billion in GDP generated from fishing tourism and recreation along Virginia’s 3,300-mile coastline. This action follows grassroots organizing and campaigning by Oceana and our allies. Every East and West Coast governor has now called for offshore drilling protections. Oceana continues to campaign for permanent federal-level protections of all U.S. waters from expanded drilling.
April 29, 2019
New York Prohibits Offshore Drilling and Infrastructure in State Waters
Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill to prohibit the exploration, development and production of offshore oil and gas in New York waters. The law also prohibits any infrastructure to support drilling off New York’s coast, and prevents the state’s agencies from taking regulatory actions to facilitate oil and gas production in federal waters.
March 27, 2019
Governor Brown Signs Oregon Offshore Oil Drilling Prohibition Into Law
Governor Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 256 (SB 256), which indefinitely extends Oregon’s moratorium on offshore oil drilling in state marine waters (0 to 3 miles from shore) and prohibits activities or new infrastructure that would support oil drilling in federal waters offshore Oregon (3 to 200 miles from shore).
Take Action
TELL PRESIDENT BIDEN: END NEW OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING
News & Reports
Press Releases
Blog

November 15, 2022
Groups Renew Call for Biden to Finalize Drilling Plan with #NoNewLeases

October 12, 2022
Scientists urge the president to stop new offshore oil drilling
Reports
Around the Web
April 24, 2023
Source: National Fisherman
April 18, 2023
Source: Common Dreams
March 29, 2023
Source: Associated Press
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