AWI Statement: Offshore Drilling Proposal Would Jeopardize Marine Life

Release Date:

January 5, 2018

Washington, DC—

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) joins the growing number of citizens and elected officials from both parties in staunch opposition to the US Department of the Interior’s proposed plan to open and expand offshore drilling operations in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic oceans and the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

In reaction to this proposal, AWI issued the following statement today:

The Interior Department’s proposal to open more federal waters to oil and gas drilling is reckless and inherently problematic for US coastal communities and marine life.

This ill-considered scheme would make millions of miles of pristine US coastline vulnerable to catastrophic and permanent damage. As seen in previous cases, such as BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, oil spills have caused the deaths of thousands of birds and other wildlife, as well as severe habitat degradation.

This proposal would be devastating for the environment and cannot be allowed to move forward.