Fighting Offshore Oil Drilling
Save Our Shores was originally founded as a citizen-action organization in 1978 to keep offshore oil drilling out of the Monterey Bay and Central Coast waters. We succeeded. Today, we continue to lead efforts to protect the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary we helped establish throughout 1988-1992. Check out our History page to learn more
In April, 2010, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded offshore, took a number of human lives, led to the death of thousands of marine animals, and continues to negatively impact marine life to this day, not to menton entire livelihoods and industries dependent on a functioning coastal ecosystem. The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a serious national disaster that we only hope will inspire citizens, legislators, and organizations around the world to advocate for clean energy and the complete termination of new fossil fuel explorations off of our coastlines.
Save Our Shores Works to Keep Small Spills at Bay
When you think of oil spills you immediately think of the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the Exxon Valdez crash. But most people would be surprised to learn that smaller oil spills occurring in our ocean on a daily basis amount to roughly 11 million gallons, the same amount of oil that spilled during the Exxon Valdez crash of 1989. Learn more about oil spills...
- Learn all about our Clean Boating Initiative and DockWalker Program
- Learn how Santa Cruz, Monterey & Save Our Shores have prepared for oil spills around Monterey Bay
12 Connections Between Oil Spills and Plastic Pollution:
1. Both oil spills & plastic pollution kill ocean wildlife in obvious, quick ways and slow, insidious ways.
2 . The longer oil spills and plastic pollution are in the ocean, the harder they are to clean up.
3. Oil spills and plastic pollution despoil beaches, coastlines and ocean habitats.
4. Oil and plastic pollution cost communities millions in lost tourism and cleanup costs.
5. Plastic pollution and oil spills are both linked to powerful, multibillion dollar producers.
6. Approximately 25% of US oil production is used to make plastic, a large percentage
of ocean pollution.
7. It is impossible to completely clean up oil slicks and plastic pollution in the ocean.
8. Plastic pollution is far more common, widespread and destructive than oil spills.
9. Plastic pollution and oil spills make you, our kids and our planet unhealthy.
10. Plastic pollution and oil slicks are connected to seemingly
insatiable human addictions.
11. Plastic pollution and oil slicks are linked to a misunderstanding of convenience and consumption.
12. We have realistic, existing, green alternatives to much of our current use of both plastic and oil.
The biggest oil spill on our planet is the one in the form of plastic pollution, spread throughout every ocean basin and washing up on virtually every single beach. Keep these links in mind as the cleanup in the Gulf continues.
-by Dr. Wallace J Nichols, Marine Biologist and SOS Board Member
> Photo: wallacejnichols.org
Local residents are fortunate to have a nationally protected Marine Sanctuary in their backyards
...But the threat of future offshore oil drilling disasters is still very real.
On May13, 2010, California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, along with four other West Coast Senators, introduced a new Senate Bill calling for the permanent protection of the entire Pacific Coast from any new leases on offshore oil rigs along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington State. The new Senate Bill will amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, and brings together the three Pacific Coast states that have a vested interest to protect their $34 billion dollar coastal economies that support over 570,000 jobs. An identical House Bill has already been introduced.
We at Save Our Shores urge all of those concerned with the threat of offshore oil drilling to stand behind this bill and support clean energy alternatives that will help create robust economies and green jobs for thousands of people. Because the new Senate Bill was just introduced, it has a long way to travel before it is approved into law. To show your support in the meantime, send an email to Barbara Boxer or Dianne Feinstein and let them know you oppose offshore oil drilling.
Here on the picturesque Monterey Bay, and up and down the coastlines of California, Oregon, and Washington, these bills will become economic support systems for our flourishing coastal industries such as tourism and recreation, while providing protections for our fisheries and environment from catastrophes like the Gulf spill.
