Center for Biological Diversity

Media Advisory, February 22, 2018

Contacts:  Bill Snape, (202) 536-9351, bsnape@biologicaldiversity.org
Steve Jones, (415) 305-3866, sjones@biologicaldiversity.org

Protesters to Confront Today's Federal Hearing on Trump's Offshore Drilling Plan  

WASHINGTON— Frostpaw the polar bear and other protesters will confront federal officials here today as they hold the latest public meeting on the Trump administration’s plan to invite offshore oil and gas drilling into every ocean in the country.

Strong public opposition to the drilling-expansion proposal has been heard at each of the 13 meetings held so far, including yesterday in Alaska and Virginia and at the raucous Feb. 8 event in California.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is required by law to gather public input on the draft five-year offshore leasing plan that it released Jan. 4. But the agency has been criticized for scheduling just one meeting in each of the 23 affected states, with a pro-drilling informational format that allows no public input or dialogue. Public comments can only be sent online or by mail until Mar. 9; people can submit comments through www.EndangeredOceans.org.

“These sham hearings ignore the strong public opposition to this reckless plan. But we’re here to say offshore drilling threatens wildlife, coastal communities and our climate,” said Center for Biological Diversity Senior Counsel Bill Snape, who will be costumed as a polar bear named Frostpaw. “Popular beaches on the East and West coasts would suffer tourism-killing oil spills. Drilling in treacherous Arctic waters would set off a carbon bomb that could doom polar bears and other imperiled species.”

What: Protesters, including one in a realistic-looking polar bear costume, will demonstrate outside the federal hearing on the Trump administration’s offshore oil-and-gas leasing plan.

When: Today, Feb. 22. Protest starts at 2 p.m. The BOEM meeting is 3-7 p.m.

Who: Center for Biological Diversity senior counsel Bill Snape, dressed as Frostpaw, and representatives from Sierra Club, Oceana, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and other groups.  

Where: Protesters will gather outside the second-floor meeting room at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1225 First Street NE, Washington, D.C.

Photos and video from the offshore drilling rallies and meeting in California are available for media use at https://tinyurl.com/yauggckf.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.6 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

www.biologicaldiversity.org

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