Release date:
3/9/2018
Department of Interior’s Proposed Plan Would Dramatically Expand Offshore Drilling
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today submitted comments to the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) opposing the Outer Continental Shelf Leasing Plan that BOEM has proposed for 2019-2024. BOEM’s plan, if approved, would open the North Carolina coast to oil and gas leasing for the first time in decades. “Protecting the people of North Carolina is my top priority – and that includes protecting our coastal economy’s tens of thousands of jobs and billions in economic activity,” said Attorney General Josh Stein. “I will do whatever it takes to stand up for the thousands of North Carolinians and 30 coastal communities that have voiced their opposition to this reckless plan that jeopardizes North Carolina’s beautiful coast.”
The comments filed today highlight reasons why BOEM should follow the Department of Interior’s past practice and exclude areas off the coast of North Carolina from any new leasing plan. The Draft Proposed Program includes a schedule of 47 offshore oil and gas lease sales to take place during the 2019-2024 period. The schedule includes five lease sales in the North Atlantic and the Mid-Atlantic areas, as well as seven lease sales off the Pacific Coast. Many of those lease sales are scheduled for waters – such as those off of North Carolina’s coast that are not currently used for any oil or gas development.
Attorney General Stein is joined in this effort by Attorneys General from California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington.
Contact:
Laura Brewer (919) 716-6484
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