The Surfrider Foundation today submitted comments to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on the Draft 2012-2017 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Programmatic EIS. These comments were based on Surfrider’s Policy on Offshore Drilling, as well as the engagement/ perspective of our U.S. chapters in this issue. Click here to read the full comment letter to BOEM. Some highlights of Surfrider’s comment letter include:

• The Surfrider Foundation strongly supports the Department’s decision to exclude the Atlantic and Pacific coasts from the proposed 2012-2017 leasing plan

• Surfrider agrees with BOEM’s approach to focus the majority of lease sales in areas with current active leases (e.g., Western and Central Gulf of Mexico); however, we oppose issuing lease sales in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico

• Surfrider has strong concerns about plans to potentially lease off Alaska, given the likely challenges with spill prevention and response in the harsh and remote ocean environment

• The Draft PEIS does not sufficiently describe and analyze the impacts of oil spills

• The PEIS needs to better consider the role that renewable energy and conservation can play

Surfrider Foundation’s full comments to BOEM

Today, the Obama administration announced that there will be no new offshore oil drilling in federal waters in the Pacific, Atlantic and Eastern Gulf for the next seven years.

This is a major victory for all those who have fought hard (see NTA partner list) to prevent new offshore drilling since the federal and executive moratoriums were not renewed in the fall of 2008.

Until today, the last 2 years have been full of bad news.

At the 11th hour the Bush administration proposed opening all coasts to drilling.

Despite massive opposition and no real evidence domestic drilling would help solve our energy crisis, in March 2010 the Obama administration proposed open vast tracts of ocean to offshore drilling.

We all know what followed… the largest offshore oil spill in world history.

Thankfully, Salazar and Obama seemed to have learned from the Gulf oil spill, listened to the science, and the continued public opposition to new offshore drilling and have decided that there will be no new offshore drilling lease tracts opened in the Pacific, Atlantic and eastern Gulf for the next 7 years.

Although this is great news and a major step towards protecting out coasts from the threats of offshore drilling, some really critical issues remain. This recent announcement potentially opens the Atlantic to harmful seismic testing and allows for new drilling in Alaska. Further, we cannot forget that hundreds of Gulf Shore communities continue to struggle to recover from this nation’s most devastating environmental disaster.

Read the Department of Interior’s press release and supporting documents here

Read an ABC news story here.

Opponents of offshore drilling – including some dressed as salmon and a polar bear – delivered more than 250,000 postcards and letters to the Interior Department Monday on a proposal to open vast waters off the Pacific and Atlantic coasts to oil and gas drilling.

Read more in the Washington Post.

The final total was actually 280,000 comments on the new 5-year lease and made it clear that new offshore drilling is not the answer.