The National Resource Defence Council maintains a great page on Oil, Energy, Renewable Technologies, and Drilling found here. Here is text from a PDF published by the NRDC:

[NRDC - The Destructive Consequences of Offshore Drilling: Offshore drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) could do serious, irreparable damage to our oceans, coastal communities, and marine life.  Some consequences of drilling in the OCS include:

Damaging coastal lands, economies, and communities Offshore oil and gas operations have detrimental effects onshore. These operations require roads,  pipelines, and processing facilities to be built on America’s beaches, wetlands, and coastal areas.  Current drilling projects in the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico have destroyed more wetlands than exist between New Jersey and Maine. These activities hurt local communities and  damage economies that depend upon these resources for tourism, coastal recreation, and fishing.

Endangering ocean health Offshore drilling and production create huge quantities of waste that contain toxic and radioactive pollutants, which can contaminate fish and marine life consumed by humans. n Drilling muds and cuttings removed from wells contain toxic metals, including mercury, lead, and cadmium. Each well creates 180,000 gallons of this waste and most of it is dumped untreated into surrounding waters. n Each well also discharges hundreds of thousands of gallons of “produced water.” Studies of this byproduct have detected radium, an extremely radioactive material; toxic pollutants, such as benzene, arsenic, lead, radium, naphthalene, zinc, and toluene; and petroleum hydrocarbons in waters down- current of the discharge.

Polluting air and emitting greenhouse gases Offshore wells emit air pollutants that are known carcinogens, cause respiratory problems, and are greenhouse gases. For example: n Emissions from drilling an average exploration well include 50 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx), 13 tons of carbon monoxide, 6 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 5 tons of volatile organic compounds. n Emissions from drilling an operational OCS platform include 50 tons of NOx, 11 tons of carbon monoxide, 8 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 38 tons of volatile organic hydrocarbons each year.

Seismic surveys harm wildlife Seismic surveys can seriously affect gray whales, sperm whales, beaked whales and bowheads, and can injure fish at substantial distances. Fish are particularly vulnerable to hearing loss that can significantly threaten their survival. Many fish, including salmon, which are endangered in portions of the United States, have swim bladders that can rupture when exposed to intense sounds like those emitted through these types of surveys.

Oil spills There have been 187 large oil spills on the OCS, each emitting more than 2100 gallons into the Gulf of Mexico, between 1981 and 2005. As storms and hurricanes have intensified, the number of oil spills has increased. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita alone resulted in 125 spills of petroleum products from platforms, rigs, and pipelines on the OCS, totaling 685,000 gallons. Oil is toxic for most marine species and, according to the National Academy of Sciences, cleanup methods can only remove a small fraction of oil spilled in marine waters.]

Growing list of petitions that tell our Government that we need to protect our Nation's Coast from Offshore Oil Drilling.

• Environment California
  
• Defenders of Wildlife

If you know of an online petition that is still active and that protects our ocean please email a link to tech[*at*]saveourshores.org