Comment Deadline Extended: Seismic Surveys in the Atlantic

Image: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

UPDATE: DOI has extended the public comment deadline to July 2, 2012. Click here to tell the Department that you support “Alternative C” (No Action).

To read Surfrider Foundation’s comment letter, click here

The Department of Interior (DOI) has announced plans to conduct seismic surveys off the South and Mid-Atlantic coasts to assess potential oil & gas resources. The proposed surveys will employ loud and damaging technologies and are intended to set the stage for future energy development off the east coast.

Please make your voice heard and tell the Department that you support “Alternative C” (No Action).

Seismic surveys will produce major impacts on marine mammals, sea turtles, fishes and other marine life in the Atlantic ocean. The blasts from seismic airguns are incredibly loud and have been shown to interfere with the feeding, mating, communication, and migration activities of numerous species, including endangered whales.

Furthermore, offshore drilling is inherently polluting and dangerous, yet it will not solve our nation’s energy needs. According to the Department of Energy, fully developing all of our recoverable offshore oil reserves would lower pump prices by exactly 3 cents – and would take twenty years to do so. Such a tradeoff is not worth the risk to our coastal economies, including the tourism, recreation, and commercial fishing sectors which generate billions of dollars in annual revenue on the Atlantic coast.

Please click here to tell the Department that you support Alternative C!

To read DOI’s official announcement: click here