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US oil and gas drilling: How This Plan Could Put America's Coasts at Risk for a Generation · How To Protect The Ocean

0:00
Oil spills are nightmares that don't end when the headlines fade.
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They linger for decades in our oceans, our wildlife, and the health
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of the people who respond to them.
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And right now, the US is facing a new offshore drilling plan that
0:13
could shape the future of the coast for generations This moment.
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Joseph Gordon from Oceana says, is a crossroads for the us.
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We either lock ourselves deeper into fossil fuels, or we choose a
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safer, cleaner future for the oceans.
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We're gonna talk about all this with Joseph on this episode of the
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How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
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Let's start the show.
0:37
Hey everybody.
0:37
Welcome back to another exciting episode of the.
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Protect the Ocean Podcast.
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I'm your host, and/or Lewin, Marine biologist and science communicator
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here to tell you what's happening with the ocean, how you can speak up for
0:46
the ocean, and what you can do to live for a better ocean by taking action.
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And today is all about taking action.
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We are gonna be talking about the new offshore plan, drilling plan for the us.
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There are a number of leases that are up for lease for companies all over
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the world in Alaska, in California.
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The northern part of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as Florida, not the
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Atlantic, but just Florida area.
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We're gonna be talking about that.
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We're gonna be talking about what's the reality of this happening?
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What's happened in the past during the first Trump's presidential, I
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guess, life, I guess for the four years, last time he was president.
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And we're gonna be talking about how that could affect this time.
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His presidency now and his administration.
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It's a five year plan.
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They're gonna be talking about drilling at some point.
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There are stages to go through, but each stage could pose a problem
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for wildlife coastlines in each state that these areas are posed.
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Not only just the.
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States, but around the world, how these potential oil spills, which usually do
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happen, and how big they can be, and what consequences that could be in the future,
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not just for oil spills directly, but also the contribution of all these oil
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platforms and oil drilling would have to climate change and our future generations
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of people who are trying to deal with the consequences of climate change.
2:02
One of the things that we like to do here on the podcast is talk about the ocean.
2:06
And being able to talk about the oceans, we're able to talk
2:08
about a lot of different things.
2:09
We're able to talk about what the consequences is of having a plan like
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this, of drilling oil and not going more towards investing more towards renewals.
2:17
We could talk about coral reefs and the benefits of having them
2:19
instead of not having them.
2:21
And one of the things that I would like to talk about and I
2:23
would like to propose to launch a podcast on is the Seagrass Meadows.
2:28
The Seagrass Meadows around the world provide such an
2:31
important part to the coastline.
2:33
Not only for biodiversity, not only for protection as a nursery habitats,
2:36
but also just carbon sequestration.
2:38
Being able to battle climate change a lot more of the up to four to 10 times
2:43
more than forests are able to sequester carbon, and it's gonna be really
2:47
important in our future to have more.
2:49
Healthy seagrasses and by donating today to support our crowdfund campaign
2:54
for the podcast, a Seagrass Effect to Launch and work for the first year.
2:58
You can not only help launch us and have us talk about research,
3:02
conservation and restoration of these Seagrass Meadows around the world,
3:06
but we can also introduce you to the people who are involved, have them
3:09
connect over this podcast as well as.
3:12
Donate towards protecting a particular Seagrass Meadow, specific
3:16
Seagrass meadow of our choice.
3:18
And we'll give you updates as we go through the podcast.
3:21
So, so call the Seagrass Effect.
3:22
If you go to speak up for blue.com/seagrass, you will be able
3:26
to get access to behind the scenes of what we're doing with seagrass.
3:31
What we're doing with Seagrass Meadows, how we're helping to
3:33
restore them, all that kinda stuff.
3:35
Plus you get to hear the podcast itself.
3:37
So the faster we get this funded, the faster I get to launch.
3:40
I can't wait to do that.
3:41
Speak up for blue.com/seagrass.
3:43
Now let's get back to talking about climate change and oil and gas and how
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that can affect this plan, how this can affect the US for future generations.
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So I have Joseph Gordon from Ocean.
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He's a campaign director.
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On the podcast today to talk about oil and energy as well as the oceans
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within the US confines, like within the US borders, which is like 200
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nautical miles off of their shore.
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It's something that's really important.
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Joseph is here to talk about how important it's for us as individuals
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to speak up, whether you're in the country or outside the country, why it's
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important, how it's helped in the past, and also like using every connection
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you have to help stop this plan.
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That's really what it comes down to.
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If you know people who are in powerful positions, if you know tourist boards
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or if you're a surfer or you work with surf rider like in a volunteer capacity
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or you're part of their crew, if you've worked all over the place with Oceania
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helping them put public comments on encouraging other people to speak
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up and speak out against this plan, it's gonna be super, super important.
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So I want you guys to listen to this interview very carefully
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'cause this demands action from you.
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This is gonna be a really important aspect in stopping this plan and
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severely reducing the amount of lease plots that have happened.
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It worked last time in Trump's first presidential time, I guess, or range, but
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we need to make it work this time as well.
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'cause the attack against the ocean from oil and gas is continuing to happen and it
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can have a profound effect for generation.
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So with that said.
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Here's the interview with Joseph Gordon from Oceana.
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Enjoy and I'll talk to you after.
5:16
Hey Joseph, welcome to the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
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Are you ready to talk about the new offshore drilling plan?
5:25
Very ready.
5:26
Alright.
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Looking forward to it.
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Yeah, me too.
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I'm looking forward to this has been in the making for a while ever since.
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The plan was leaked, uh, and people have been getting their hands on bits and
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pieces, or there's rumors flying around.
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Uh, I've been wanting to have someone like yourself out and it has been really great.
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'cause I've been having, I've had a really great relationship with your comms team.
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We've had other people, your colleagues from Oceana out before.
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Uh, and it was just nice to be able to have someone who is very much.
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In line with what would happen if this offshore plan came to be, there's an
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open comment period where people can comment their, we know their feelings
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on it and what they want to do.
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So what I want to do today is have you want to give my audience the
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information to, uh, sort of, I guess, uh.
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Arm themselves with what they need to know if they want to do a, a public comment and
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how that works and what's more effective, but really get the information on the
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plan and how that could affect the ocean in and around the, the US coastline.
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So we're gonna talk all about that.
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Okay.
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But before we do, Joseph, why don't we just get to know you a little bit?
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Why don't you just let us know who you are and what you do.
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Okay.
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Uh, so my name's Joseph Gordon.
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I am the campaign director for Oceana.
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Uh, my main focus is climate and energy.
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Uh, so, but from the perspective of oceans and how to, uh, continue
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to have thriving healthy oceans and energy for the future, I love it.
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I love it that this is a, this is a big thing to be in charge of
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for, for this campaign, you know, uh, it's a, it's a huge thing.
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Um, how did you get into this, this line of work?
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Like where did it all begin?
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Um, I always loved the ocean.
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I was, uh, at some point dreamed about being a Marine biologist,
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but I think for me it was the first time I went snorkeling.
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Mm-hmm.
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And to see, uh, it was like a, you know, a Disney movie, but like
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everything was alive around you.
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Everything had its place and fit together.
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Fish swirling around and just to see that and realize that
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something like that could exist.
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Mm-hmm.
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Capture my imagination.
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Um, I'm endlessly interested in oceans, always fascinated by, uh, life.
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And then as I got older, I worked on different environmental issues,
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but when I worked on oceans, I just, the more I learned as an adult to
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know that like right off New York City, it's like billions of fish
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and imagine like hundreds of lions and thousands of tigers descending.
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It's just like this amazing scenes happening all around us.
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Uh, And so I love the oceans and having an opportunity to
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protect them was core for me.
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And I worked on fisheries in coastal habitat for decades.
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Um, but then when there was an opportunity to shift and to work on climate and
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to work on stopping the expansion of offshore drilling, I took it.
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I love it.
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But that is, it's interesting how, you know, you go from this, like the
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loving of fish, but then you're like, okay, I gotta stop this from happening.
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Where did that education come from?
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Where did you, you know, kind of find out, you know, oil and gas
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and oceans are not mixing well.
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Uh, and, and you need to do something to stop it.
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So where did that, we know the passion came from, but where did
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that education come from And then how did you end up, you know, wanting
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to be on like a campaign director?
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Yeah.
8:46
Life takes you d on different paths and sometimes in a way
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you didn't expect for me.
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Probably my formative experience, and I'm gonna date myself here, but my formative
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environmental experience was Exxon Valdez.
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Right?
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Right.
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For the next generation, it's probably deep water horizon, but for me, seeing
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oil animals washing on shore, like seeing, imagining like what Alaska was And then
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seeing so much destruction, um, I think that was the first time I really realized
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that I wanted to be an environmentalist and that that had to change.
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Uh, because, uh, you know, the idea of being an environmentalist
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as a career is pretty new.
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Um, yeah.
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But to me, like that felt like my passion and what I wanted to do.
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And so working on fisheries and habitat, stopping over fishing or storing habitats
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and deep sea corals, you start to look at what those habitats are and how mm-hmm.
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Fragile they are.
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Yeah.
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Like to imagine something growing for a thousand years, uh, And
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then what an oil spill could do.
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So I I, in one fell swoop opportunity, right?
9:51
Just in one fell swoop.
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In one fell swoop Yeah.
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Yeah.
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It could be, it could be very damaging.
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You know, I was, I was a kid when, when Ex Exxon, ex Exxon Valdez happened.
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We all watched it.
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We all saw the birds covered in like black, thick oil.
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You know, the, the, it, it was, you know, seeing the dead animals along the side.
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It was, it was awful.
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And even then, we didn't know what we know now.
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You know, even with, I, I always tell people like the deep water horizon spill
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was probably one of the biggest, uh, things that got me into communication
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because we really got to see.
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People go down and talk about what was happening, but not just from an
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environmental perspective, also from, you know, other fishers that were down
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there and tourists, uh, operations, that, how they were affected and
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how like completely little towns were affected along that shoreline.
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And, and I think that was the, the, the thing that got me is just, we just
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don't understand not only the, the environmental impact, but also the people.
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They also get affected.
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By this, this huge disruption for years to come.
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It's not just that, you know, they put out the dispersements And then it disappears
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And then you can start up again.
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It's, no, it's, it's, it's a, it's a, a, you know, decatal kind of, uh, recovery.
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And, and I think that's what, you know, we obviously, we all try to prevent.
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Um, And then now, you know, trying to look at these plans and be
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like, what's, what's happening?
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Um, how did you get started?
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How long have you, how long have you been with Oceania?
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And how did you get started with that?
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Um, can I pause because you actually raised something really
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powerful in what you said.
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Yeah, for sure.
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Absolutely.
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Um, So this is a 15 year anniversary of Deepwater Horizon and a lot of
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research has been done and there's a parallel phenomenon that happened, the
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Um, So you have to imagine oil spill.
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It's like, um, imagine a cloud of oil raining down from the sky and
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there's no way to get away, right?
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And you have to breathe the oil.
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Yeah, and the Marine mammals, like dolphins will swim, but they have
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to come to the surface to breathe.
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So they were affected by the chemicals, the dispersements and the oil.
11:56
Yeah.
11:56
Um, and have had over time huge health impacts from that.
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Mm-hmm.
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But it's also true of the first responders, the people
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who came to help clean up.
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They've done multi-thousand person studies of the health effects, and they
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have had huge long-term health impacts.
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So an oil spill is a nightmare at the time.
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And the visual images we saw, of course, but now we know it's a
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nightmare for decades to come.
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Yeah, that's, and, and I, that's a good, I'm glad you, you hit home on that
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point because, you know, we don't, we don't see that afterwards we, we, we
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understand like, you know, BP had to pay a bunch of money to that, to, to this
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fund where we could do more research.
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We, as in the scientific community, especially within the Gulf
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States and, And so forth, but.
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We're still finding problems.
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You know, we still haven't fully recovered.
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There's still, like you even mentioned, like the, the, you know, Marine mammals
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and sharks and fish and invertebrates all over the place in that area have
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actually, still have effects and spreads.
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It doesn't just stay in one spot.
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So, um, I'm glad you mentioned that point.
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Uh, but just going back to my question, Yeah.
13:00
Yeah.
13:00
Because I know we're gonna get into that, uh, you know, and how it all filters in.
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But, uh, how did you get involved with Oceania and, and, and
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becoming like a campaigner.
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Yeah, I had been working and leading a teams working on, uh,
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fisheries in coastal habitat.
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Uh, so for a couple decades, um, working on the reauthorization of the
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Federal Fisheries Law Implementation and regions in the Mid-Atlantic.
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Worked on some of the biggest protected areas in the Atlantic, uh,
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ecosystem based management for the biggest forge fish in the Atlantic.
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And then, uh, we had a switch, a transition, and um, I started doing some
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consulting with National Ship Protection Coalition and, uh, Marine protected areas.
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And then this opportunity opened up through, a friend said, would you be
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interested in doing climate and energy being a campaign director at Oceana?
13:49
Uh, yeah.
13:49
And that's two, about two years ago, right?
13:50
To the day now.
13:51
Nice.
13:52
Uh, and, um, I, it was a big transition.
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I was excited about it.
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I thought at the time, what are we, what am I even gonna do?
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There's so many people working on climate and not at all, there's huge
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opportunity to make a difference.
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Um, and I would never have predicted the rollercoaster year that we've had
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from Biden protecting 625 million acres to now working to stop massive drilling
14:21
plan in those same ac, you know, areas.
14:23
Yeah.
14:24
Um, and I think it's gonna be a story.
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Our hope is it's gonna be a hopeful story of through administrations,
14:32
through political change, the bipartisan traditions hold strong, that people
14:38
don't want new drilling off their coast.
14:40
Yeah, I mean, I, I feel like that's become pretty, not only from a national
14:45
level, but an international level too.
14:47
You know, nobody wants to see that in their, in their backyard
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and, and 'cause we know what the effects can be in, in the past.
14:53
Um, plus with the, with the, the amount of renewals that are coming up, new renewal,
14:58
uh, energy, uh, plants and stuff like that that are coming up, it, it really helps.
15:02
So.
15:03
Let, let's, let's get into it.
15:05
Okay.
15:05
Because something you, you mentioned, uh, you know, just, just a year ago
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before, uh, Trump's administration came in, you mentioned that there was
15:13
a lot of protection along, along the shoreline from, from oil and gas drilling
15:17
and, and exploration And so forth.
15:19
Can you talk a little bit about that?
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What we, what we had a year ago in the US and what we saw in the, I'm
15:24
in Canada, but what, what we saw in, in the US and, and uh, and what
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that meant, And then how that's changed under the new administration.
15:33
Hmm.
15:35
Um,
15:37
I'll take the liberty of starting just a bit earlier and get to Please do
15:41
where, um, it was pretty remarkable.
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We were talking about earlier how the Trump administration, the
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first Trump administration came in.
15:49
Right to open up everything.
15:50
Their original Prosple was to open up every coast.
15:53
Yeah, almost every coast in the United States.
15:55
And by the end, that didn't happen.
15:58
And in fact, president Trump protected for 10 years North Carolina to Florida,
16:02
And then President Biden had strong commitments to trying to, uh, stop the
16:08
expansion of offshore drilling and in ear.
16:12
It was actually earlier this year on January 6th.
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Uh, president Biden protected 625 million acres the entire East coast, west Coast.
16:20
Mm-hmm.
16:21
Uh, Florida's Gulf Coast and areas off Alaska.
16:24
And, uh, that was a, a big historic moment.
16:28
Yep.
16:28
Uh, I remember that on his first day in office, president Trump did an executive
16:32
order attempting to reverse that, and he's put forward a plan that in the
16:36
initial stage, opened everything to offshore drilling for consideration.
16:41
But then the recent plan that just came out.
16:44
The Atlantic and Pacific Northwest are taken out, And so we're now
16:48
talking about areas off Florida.
16:52
Right?
16:52
California and Alaska are on the table right now.
16:56
Okay.
16:57
So nothing else.
16:58
Just Florida, California and Alaska and the Western and Central Gulf.
17:04
But those are an ex coming through the Congre.
17:06
Congress passed and the big.
17:08
You know HR one, the big bill that they passed at the beginning of the year.
17:11
Okay.
17:11
They included a massive expansion in Cook Inlet in Alaska And then
17:15
in the Western Central Gulf.
17:16
Okay.
17:16
So there is a phenomenal, like the first lease sale's about to come up.
17:21
Yeah.
17:21
80 million acres is wow in, and that's the first of 30.
17:27
Yeah, in the Western and Central Gulf.
17:29
And so, uh, area is off Louisiana and Texas.
17:34
Some of these areas are definitely facing huge pressure for expanded drilling.
17:38
Mm-hmm.
17:39
So that's a part of this plan too.
17:41
Um, yeah.
17:42
But we're gonna try and stop what we can.
17:43
Well, and, and it's interesting too because like in certain parts
17:46
off the coast of Louisiana, there's called, like what we know is Oil
17:50
City, which is just like a platform.
17:52
Like a, basically a size of a, a small city of just platforms and
17:56
platforms and platforms and platforms of drilling that's already ongoing.
18:01
Uh, they want to get more in there.
18:03
You're saying be, is it in that area or is it more west of it?
18:06
All of it.
18:07
All of it.
18:07
When you're talking 80 million acres.
18:09
30 of 80 million.
18:11
We're talking about every inch of the Western and Central Gulf over time.
18:15
Right, right.
18:16
Auction And so that's auctions along the continental shelf right there.
18:19
Like that's not past it all the way out.
18:21
All the way out.
18:21
Okay.
18:22
Wow.
18:23
And now there was a, a thing that they were talking about, and I don't
18:27
know if this is, this is true or not, there's a way that they can go like
18:31
out further than the Continental Shelf.
18:33
I know they have an agreement with Mexico, but there's a way they can go further.
18:37
I know that was with Deep Sea Mine they were talking about, but
18:39
I don't know if it's still the same with the, like for drilling.
18:42
Can they drill beyond this?
18:43
The, the, uh, the, the Continental shelf?
18:46
The only place where that's under consideration in this plan is there's
18:49
a new area called the hi arctic.
18:52
Right.
18:52
That there's some consideration That's part of the plan.
18:55
Okay.
18:56
And you just have to imagine
18:59
in the D like cold, like slow, evolving species.
19:05
The fragile environments, the, Yeah, the ice.
19:08
All the ways that there could be a horrific oil spill far from land
19:12
where it would be hard to get to, hard to stop cause irreparable damage.
19:16
And there's other pieces too.
19:18
There's shipping, there's military uses in those areas.
19:21
Mm-hmm.
19:22
Uh, so those not just devoid of people.
19:25
There are many uses out there.
19:26
And structure and oil spills could cause huge harm.
19:30
So we're we definitely.
19:34
We would oppose the expansion of drilling in those deeper areas too.
19:38
I think the Hi Arctic is the one area be, you know, that
19:41
sort of extends beyond Right.
19:42
Typical US waters.
19:44
Okay.
19:45
One thing that was surprising to me was seeing that they were, uh, like they were,
19:52
they were, they were trying to go against, like, try and drill along Florida.
19:56
Now that's interesting to me.
19:57
That's a Republican state.
19:59
Last time he, uh, Trump was president, he tried to do the same thing.
20:03
Uh, but then Florida got taken off as well.
20:06
As you mentioned before, we recorded up, up the, uh, Carolina coast.
20:11
Do you think that that is a place that that's gonna continue?
20:14
And I guess, I guess the question is not just in Florida,
20:16
but all these other places.
20:18
This is the plan to explore, not necessarily drill Um, So
20:23
it's just the plan itself.
20:25
There's still a lot to go on before any, like, any drilling can happen.
20:29
Um, but I guess first start off, do you think Florida's gonna stay on the plan for
20:33
long given that it's a Republican state?
20:36
And the last time, you know, Republicans didn't want it, that I think it was the
20:39
governor said, no, let's take it off.
20:41
And he did take it off.
20:42
Do you think that's a chance that they might take it off as well?
20:44
Again, we, we were so, uh.
20:51
Please.
20:52
Like it was so amazing last week to see the continued bipartisan,
20:58
overwhelming opposition.
21:00
There was a letter from every single member of Congress, from Florida,
21:04
every Republican, democrat, every senator, every representative.
21:08
The governor wrote a statement and the military base eglin that covers nearly
21:13
all of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.
21:15
It's the national testing and training range for military.
21:18
Yeah.
21:18
Uh, which does not want structure or flammable materials
21:21
or oil spills happening.
21:23
All of those in, you know, strong statements right out of the gates
21:27
after this plan was introduced.
21:28
So we certainly hope that the president, like last time will
21:31
hear those voices and pull it out.
21:33
Mm-hmm.
21:34
Mm-hmm.
21:34
And withdraw Florida.
21:36
Uh, there, there is such strong opposition.
21:39
That's, and those are the elected officials, but also
21:41
the people, the public.
21:43
Yeah.
21:43
Uh, and fishing.
21:44
They don't to on the coastline.
21:46
Yeah.
21:46
And they all, and they all lived through, almost all lived
21:49
through deep water horizon.
21:51
Yes.
21:51
So they remember.
21:52
Yeah.
21:53
So when something gets proposed like, well, there'll be a hundred mile buffer.
21:57
Buffers don't matter when there's an oil spill.
21:59
No, there's no boundary.
22:01
There's, there's no physical boundary.
22:02
There's a, a pretend boundary, but there's no physical boundary.
22:05
No, I I think it's a, do you think it's a negotiation tactic?
22:08
Almost like, let's put up as much as possible like last time And
22:11
then we'll kind of curtail it to what they really, really want.
22:17
Uh, I can't speak for industry right there.
22:21
There is definitely, if you look at the comments, there has been consistent
22:24
industry interest from industry.
22:26
And drilling there, they, they want the oil that's there.
22:30
Yeah.
22:30
And so I imagine they were testing the waters politically.
22:33
You know, there was an interest in seeing if this might be a moment.
22:37
Uh, and I think the answer is no.
22:40
Right?
22:40
Absolutely not.
22:41
Yeah.
22:42
No, absolutely.
22:42
Absolutely.
22:44
Um, you know, one of the things when you, when we look at these proposed, so
22:49
I'm looking at the stats here, it says.
22:51
We are looking at lease sales, 34 lease sales in federal waters.
22:55
Looking at 21 off Alaska, six off, uh, the Pacific, like California,
23:01
and seven off the Gulf of Mexico.
23:03
Uh, there might be some in Florida as well as you mentioned.
23:08
What are the biggest, um, environmental or ecological risks
23:13
that we see associated with these opening, like these open waters?
23:16
I know we, we kind of mentioned it earlier just in terms there's no boundaries
23:20
And so if a spill happens, a spill happens, it goes into all these areas,
23:24
but like especially sensitive areas.
23:26
You know, like Pacific and Antarctic waters off Alaska.
23:29
Like what are those environmental risks and ecological risks that we might see
23:35
during any stage of, of the process from surveying and exploration to drilling?
23:41
Hmm.
23:43
That's a very big question.
23:45
Uh, maybe the major ones like something, and, but it is, but
23:48
it's the profound question and the starting point is what is this plan?
23:53
This plan is about leasing.
23:55
So it's about auctioning off our coast, our public coasts for drilling.
24:01
Right?
24:02
Right.
24:02
And so it's not about this year, it's not about gas prices, this
24:06
is about generations ahead.
24:10
What do we want the world to be?
24:11
Mm-hmm.
24:11
And this country and this world are at a crossroads.
24:14
Do we wanna lock ourselves into decades more of fossil fuels?
24:18
Do we want to drill further, deeper, more risky?
24:22
Every inch, or do we wanna make the transition to clean renewable energy?
24:27
This is, this plan is sort of at that crux of the decision.
24:31
Mm-hmm.
24:31
Because if we decide that we're gonna drill Florida.
24:34
And then think about the long-term economic impacts of an oil
24:39
spill in Florida in the summer or California in the summer.
24:42
Is that the future we want?
24:43
No, absolutely not.
24:45
So in terms of what are the effects?
24:48
So the So, so the reason I raise the, like what the leasing is
24:50
about is because there's stages, then they have to put out leases.
24:54
Someone has to buy the leases.
24:55
The world is flooded with oil right now.
24:57
Mm-hmm.
24:57
At one point there was a belief that we were gonna run out.
25:01
They're finding deep water oil in Guyana, north Sea, south China Sea,
25:06
Nigeria, uh, all around the world.
25:09
They're finding massive, like deep water, more risky or near shore
25:14
deposits in places there weren't before.
25:16
So we really have to make a decision that we wanna move on.
25:19
We have to make a decision to stop expanding offshore drilling and change.
25:23
So if we continue on the path we're on, uh, there's really,
25:28
I mean, history is so clear.
25:30
Everywhere.
25:30
There's a massive expansion of offshore drilling.
25:33
There are ca catastrophic oil spills, Yeah.
25:36
Yeah.
25:36
That's what's gonna happen.
25:38
And it's bound to, there's probably, it's bound to happen.
25:41
And there are small ones by the way, in between.
25:43
Yeah.
25:44
So we're, it's one of the most destructive things you could
25:49
possibly do to the environment.
25:51
We don't experience it on land.
25:53
So it's really hard to imagine that cloud of oil coming down, trying to breathe oil.
25:57
There's nowhere to get away.
25:59
Everything is killed.
26:01
Um, and that's, uh, and that's, you know, out in the ocean Um, So, but
26:08
then of course it comes onto shores.
26:09
It affects whether it's, you know, they're still finding it in the salt marshes
26:14
of the Gulf from Deepwater Horizon, still washing, I mean, just where the,
26:18
the legacy And then the chemicals.
26:19
Mm-hmm.
26:21
Uh, this is a chance and we hope the Trump administration ultimately will
26:26
take, you know, all these areas off California, the Alaska areas, Florida.
26:32
Um, there's a chance for a different path for, uh, the US to lead
26:39
on energy and lead sustainably.
26:42
Right.
26:42
And we hope that that's the direction it'll go because, uh, sorry.
26:47
Yeah.
26:47
Just to, so when you were saying like every stage of the game, so
26:49
I want to answer that question.
26:51
Yeah.
26:51
When they're serving, they're using seismic blasting and we really have no
26:56
conception of what that's like on land.
26:57
It's one of the loudest sounds in the ocean, right?
26:59
Over and over and over and over again for weeks or months on an end.
27:03
Um, we don't really even fully understand the impacts on Marine life No.
27:07
Of doing that kind of testing and it's, uh, and that, so that's, so we were really
27:12
heartened to see the Atlantic taken out because they were talking about testing
27:16
and seismic blasting along the Atlantic.
27:17
So that's not gonna happen.
27:19
Um, So there's that, there's sort of like, because they're making huge sounds
27:24
'cause they want to figure out hundreds, like, like deep, deep under the earth
27:28
what's there and have it echo back Um, So.
27:32
It, it, you know, it's just so that there's that part of the process.
27:36
Then there's the part of the process where they might putting the infrastructure
27:39
in where they're drilling, they're bringing it out, there are oil spills,
27:42
And then even when it makes it all the way through the whole process,
27:49
it's putting carbon in the atmosphere.
27:51
It's fueling the climate crisis, it's fueling the, um, sea level rise.
27:57
The air pollution, the water pollution, all of that.
28:01
It's just, it's such a destructive way to get energy and there
28:04
are better ways out there.
28:06
I think you're right.
28:07
You know, there's the, the, the, the chemical aspect of it, the oil
28:12
actually spilling, And then the dispersions on top of that to get, you
28:15
know, rid of it, uh, quote unquote.
28:18
But I find.
28:22
The, like you mentioned, the, the consequences from a climate change
28:26
perspective, the sea level rise, the um, the, the storm surges, the, the warming
28:32
of the, of the atmosphere, the warming of the waters, you know, ocean acidification.
28:37
There's all these things that come along with, with climate change that
28:40
we will see in future generations, and that this is just adding to the
28:47
problem that we've already had and.
28:50
It's, it's like just making this decision to open all these leases up
28:56
puts us at risk for years to come.
28:59
You know, not just now, but like years to come, even though this might take years
29:03
to actually go from leasing to drilling.
29:07
I mean, we don't even know if these leases are gonna be, you know, fully reinstated.
29:11
This is, this is bad on a longevity perspective.
29:16
So let me ask you this.
29:19
Um.
29:21
Because, because you know, a lot of people within the environmental
29:25
field these days, over the last year have been really involved in
29:29
advocacy and, and you know, looking at policy and responding accordingly.
29:35
And, and, and of course Oceana is one of the leads in, in a lot
29:39
of these, a lot of these places.
29:40
Um, in a lot of these situations.
29:42
So from, from this plan, I know you've only had it for maybe what a week,
29:47
uh, you know, the full plan, uh, I know it was leaked before, but having
29:50
the actual full plan, what's Oceana's position moving forward on this plan?
29:57
Like, what does Oceana want its constituents to, to get to know?
30:02
My audience members get to know, which are probably both.
30:05
Um, but what do, what does Oceania want us to do?
30:10
About this plan to, to one, like just stop it off the bat, you know,
30:14
reduce the amount of leases, if not all, you know, protect that ocean.
30:18
What do we do?
30:20
Yeah, so there's, this is, uh, an issue that, that affects people in so many ways.
30:26
So you have different connections to it.
30:29
Uh, I know that there are le letters by scientists, letters by religious leaders.
30:34
Religious, uh, letters by, you know, people who represent
30:38
chambers of commerce or businesses.
30:41
There's so many different ways that we connect to the ocean and ways.
30:44
If you think backwards from what a oil spill would mean, all the people ways that
30:48
you, you know, you can speak up because it would hurt your community, right?
30:52
Something you care about are the planet.
30:54
So from our perspective, we just want as many people to speak up as possible.
30:59
It is a time where a lot of people feel overwhelmed.
31:03
There's a lot of fear, um, but we certainly on this issue, it is bipartisan
31:11
and remains bipartisan, and it is an issue where we do think with a strong
31:16
push from all the right people, all the public, all the leaders, that, that we
31:22
can get these areas taken out, right?
31:24
We can protect Florida's coast, we can protect California's coast.
31:28
We can protect a vast area of Alaska, and we'll do what we can
31:30
in the Western essential Gulf.
31:32
Right.
31:32
So we, you know, we're, our hope is that people speak up, bring your expertise,
31:37
bring your perspectives, and why you care.
31:39
There's a public comment period that's open now through January 23rd.
31:42
There's a portal.
31:43
You just write your comments there or send a letter that way.
31:48
Mm-hmm.
31:49
But, um, and if there's just such a strong public push from so many
31:54
different perspectives, um, and it's such a bad idea to start with, right?
32:00
We hope we can prevail.
32:02
So I'm gonna put my, and that's what we're working to do.
32:04
Absolutely.
32:05
I apologize to interrupt.
32:06
You're okay.
32:07
I'm gonna put my negative hat on right now because, you know, we look at who's
32:11
in charge of the US and, you know, it's a, it's a stubborn administration.
32:17
They came in knowing what they wanted to do.
32:20
They're very fossil fuel fueled, no pun intended.
32:25
But they're very much for in favor of fossil fuels.
32:29
They wanna bring back coal, they wanna do this, they wanna do that.
32:32
There are a lot of people who are obviously concerned, but almost apathetic
32:37
because like, how can we have a change?
32:42
Now, last time he, uh, Trump was president, his first presidency, there was
32:47
a Prosple to open up the entire coast and.
32:52
You know, Oceania did, did the same, did a very similar thing.
32:55
Let's all speak up.
32:56
Let's get public comment, period out.
32:59
There were people who were negative at first in terms of like, if I
33:02
speak up, will my voice be heard?
33:03
Like, will that happen?
33:05
What happened?
33:06
Then that kind of would help people.
33:09
Today to speak up because like a lot of people aren't hopeful about anything
33:15
that comes out and it's a big ass to get people to put their name to it.
33:19
Has it worked in the past and can it work now?
33:28
You can't just be hopeful when things are easy.
33:31
This is a hard time, right?
33:32
And there are really re reasons to be worried about the future.
33:37
So there's no question about that.
33:39
And when you're talking about climate or fossil fuels, you're
33:43
talking about really big decisions.
33:45
Mm-hmm.
33:45
With a lot of powerful interests.
33:49
But I think Florida last week with the entire delegation, every Republican,
33:54
every Democrat, every senator, every member, the governor, and the military
33:58
base, all speaking up, I think it shows that people still love their coast.
34:04
Right.
34:04
People still care about their coast and if we can work together,
34:08
we can protect our coasts as much as possible around the country.
34:13
And, uh, while those powerful interests are certainly a force
34:17
to be reckoned with, mm-hmm.
34:19
The power of communities speaking up and using their strength and
34:24
their, you know, perspectives.
34:27
And again, this can be religious leaders, business leaders.
34:30
Right there, you know, and, and, and because this is by,
34:36
no one wants an oil spill.
34:38
It is a, you are able to work across the aisle on this issue, and that gives
34:41
you a lot of hope that you can succeed.
34:44
Yeah.
34:45
Even in a difficult political environment.
34:47
Yeah.
34:47
Well, and even last time he was president, people spoke up and those
34:51
leases didn't go through, did they?
34:54
Ultimately?
34:55
Yeah.
34:56
No, they were, they did not finalize the plan.
34:58
Yeah.
34:59
And he ended up protecting North Carolina to Florida for 10 years.
35:04
Um, you know, Florida's back on the table, so.
35:06
Right, right.
35:06
It's a, it's, it's not a, uh, the work's not done.
35:10
Yeah.
35:10
But it also should give people hope that it can be achieved.
35:13
Um, And then on this issue, he can, he can move.
35:17
In fact, though, the Atlantic came out of the first draft of the plan.
35:21
Right.
35:21
And that's a big area and that's a big accomplishment for the many,
35:24
many people in the Atlantic who spoke up at the first stage of this.
35:28
So how was the Atlantic different than something like the Pacific Coast
35:33
in terms of, you know, why did the Pacific stay on and the Atlantic didn't?
35:36
What did the, what did, like who spoke up in the Atlantic
35:41
that really made a difference?
35:43
Was there a specific, was it a number of people?
35:45
Was it the types of people, like in terms of where they are within
35:49
sort of that upper middle class, you know, rich, lower middle class.
35:55
Is it, is it a, is there a way to be like whatever they did in Atlantic, could
35:58
it work in the Pacific or elsewhere?
36:03
It would be wonderful.
36:04
It would make our jobs easier if we really knew.
36:06
Yeah.
36:07
Uh, exactly what worked or didn't.
36:10
You know, you bring all of it, you try and bring all of it.
36:13
I think it was important that at the first stage.
36:17
Not only Democrats, but also Republicans spoke up.
36:20
Mm-hmm.
36:20
Either publicly or behind the scenes.
36:22
I think it was important that businesses and all the people who had
36:26
spoken up before showed up even in a crazy chaotic time, gave comments.
36:31
Um, you know, we, we list all the comments@stopthedrill.org, you could
36:35
see like state by state who spoke up.
36:37
Yeah.
36:37
And it was really impressive.
36:38
Um, and, uh, so I think that was all true and it was, and
36:44
something was powerful enough.
36:46
To take the Atlantic off the table, or maybe many things.
36:49
We didn't get a, um, we didn't get an analysis told us.
36:54
Right.
36:55
Um, but, but I think it's, it, it's should give people a reason to hope
37:00
that we can do the same in other areas.
37:02
Right, right.
37:04
Can we shift a little bit in terms of Sure.
37:08
We know the global global trends are moving more towards renewable energy.
37:13
Uh, so is there.
37:16
Is there, is there evidence that's that, like the expanded offshore drilling is
37:21
actually necessary or wise for, for US energy over the next 10 or 20 years?
37:27
Like wouldn't it be I knew, I know there was, there were a number of offshore
37:31
renewable energy plans that were happening, especially in the Atlantic.
37:35
Those got stalled or stopped altogether when Trump came in.
37:40
I don't know if they've actually been stopped, but that was sort of
37:42
the word that that was happening.
37:44
Is it, is it wise?
37:45
Is it like based on the global trend, is it wise for, for the US
37:48
to stop pushing renewable energies and going back to fossil fuels?
37:53
Absolutely not.
37:54
No.
37:54
The, we're not at a time where there's some big mystery about
38:00
how we solve this problem, right?
38:02
We definitely need to figure out how to do renewables better.
38:06
Right.
38:06
You have to be, you know, whether it's offshore wind or solar and to, you
38:10
know, how to do it more sustainably, but we already know the solution and we
38:15
already know the cost of not doing it.
38:18
So I think it's the moral imperative of our time to make that switch and
38:22
to, to do, you know, in this case, when we're talking about offshore
38:26
leasing, like to make the right choice for future generations to say we're
38:29
committed, that we're not gonna just drill and spill your coastlines, right.
38:35
Um, but we're gonna swiftly move to the energy that's gonna dominate the future.
38:40
Are, are, do you know if people speak up more for renewable energy
38:44
off their coastlines rather than, than, uh, fossil fuel energy?
38:50
I don't, I, I would have to look at polling that I, that I haven't
38:53
and, and this of course changes.
38:54
That's fine.
38:55
Yeah, of course.
38:55
But I think as a general rule, renewables are popular.
38:59
Yeah.
38:59
And as a general rule, people care about their coastline, so
39:03
if there's a sense that something might be destructive, they're gonna
39:05
be wary about it and that's okay.
39:06
Yeah.
39:06
That's kind of where we are at the moment.
39:09
Gotcha, gotcha.
39:12
In this plan, do they require partnerships from states that
39:17
are involved in this plan, like California, Florida, the Gulf States?
39:20
Is it, is it, 'cause I know a lot of the times.
39:23
W when we, we were looking at Canada, we just, they just approved
39:27
an expansion of a, of a pipeline.
39:29
And the provinces are kind of battling right now in terms of what happens, but
39:34
there's a federal thing And then there's a memorandum of understanding and we're
39:38
trying to figure out like the legalities of all of it and whether if one province
39:42
doesn't want it, that they want to go through, then it'll be difficult to get to
39:47
get the buy-in, including indigenous, uh.
39:50
You know, feedback and, and where they want it as well.
39:54
Is there a, a role that in, in the legislation that states play within,
40:00
within this sort of offshore plan, and is it possible for them to stall or stop any
40:06
Prosple of any leases off their coastline?
40:09
Uh, the, the way this plays out in the ocean is that the near shore
40:12
waters usually out to three miles.
40:14
It's a little different off Florida.
40:16
Um, uh, usually up to about three miles is state waters, uh, state of Florida
40:21
and state of California, and many other states have prohibited offshore drilling
40:26
from happening within their state waters.
40:29
Gotcha.
40:29
And then some states, and California is one of them.
40:32
Pass the law to prevent the use of infrastructure to expand
40:36
drilling in federal waters from coming onto their shores.
40:40
So they really attempted to do exactly what you're describing,
40:43
to be able to block the, the, any expansion of offshore drilling off
40:46
California and that remains in place.
40:49
Um mm-hmm.
40:50
So states simply do have a say on what's brought into their
40:53
shores, uh, and should, uh, right.
40:55
'cause it has great effect.
40:57
And an oil spill off their coast, uh, is very much a state issue.
41:01
For sure, for sure.
41:03
And you mentioned earlier that, you know, oil's in pl, like there's plenty
41:08
of oil to go around these days, right?
41:10
Like there's, in terms of availability, um, they've kind of opened up the
41:15
tap, not just the US but worldwide.
41:18
You know, it's, it's, it's, it's cheaper now.
41:21
It, does it make sense from a price point to like, you know, go drilling in, in a
41:26
place like Alaska, which is very difficult to drill and very difficult to work.
41:31
Will that be prohibitive to some companies in terms of like, they may not lease
41:34
because I remember the Northern Slope was a big contested issue for decades in
41:39
including like, you know, organizations.
41:41
I believe you guys partnered up with a lot of organizations to take
41:44
the government to, uh, to court because they didn't follow the
41:47
environmental, uh, assessment plans.
41:49
Like this is way back when.
41:50
Um, And then eventually Michelle just kind of like, we're leaving 'cause
41:53
it's not worth, you know, the money that we're spending to drill if we,
41:57
you know, 'cause, because of the way that that oil was going down.
42:00
Has that sentiment changed for companies or is it like, 'cause like they could open
42:04
up leases, but if nobody buys them because it's too difficult or too expensive to, to
42:08
drill, then it, it, it doesn't make sense.
42:11
Does that, is that still at play right now?
42:15
The, the world economy is in a massive moment of change.
42:21
Yeah.
42:21
So I wouldn't have, you know, I don't think it's appropriate to
42:25
try and guess what will happen.
42:27
Right.
42:27
I think we're about to see a massive, uh, test.
42:30
Of what the industry's interest is, and that will be what Congress mandated,
42:36
which is the big expansion of drilling and cook inland in Alaska and in the
42:39
Western and Central Gulf of Mexico.
42:41
These vast multimillion dollar, multimillion acre lease sales.
42:45
We'll see, you know, if, if the bidding happens and if they sell,
42:49
and that'll be a sense of where the economy is at the moment.
42:52
But again, these lease sales are a generational decision.
42:56
Someone might buy them even if the world's flooded with oil and prices.
43:00
You know, or, or vice versa.
43:01
If it's low, you know, there is an oil and the price is high, people
43:04
might buy it and hold onto it.
43:06
And in fact, approximately 80% of the already leased areas are not being used.
43:12
Right?
43:12
Because that's a lot of what's happening.
43:15
And so we're, you know, we're concerned about the long-term decision and whether
43:20
oil prices were high or low, whether the cost of offshore drilling is so high.
43:27
It'll ne it never makes sense.
43:29
It will never make sense.
43:30
No, yeah, for sure.
43:32
For sure.
43:32
Especially in in those areas, if you count for the people's health over
43:35
time and this cost of oil spills.
43:38
Yeah, absolutely.
43:39
And especially with a changing Arctic too.
43:41
Like you just never know what's gonna happen up there.
43:44
Let's, let's start talking about what people could do.
43:47
'cause, because, you know, oceania's very good at inspiring people to act
43:52
and to, you know, share their opinions and their, their, their wants, you
43:57
know, for, for a better environment, uh, you know, and within their country,
44:01
the public, uh, period for comment is open as, as we know right now.
44:07
Um, would you know first, do you know when that closes?
44:11
January 23rd.
44:12
January 23rd.
44:13
2026. Okay, so it's still relevant.
44:16
We're gonna put this up as soon as possible so that Okay.
44:18
People can get to, get, people can get to know and, and, and have some time.
44:22
So when we talk about the, you know, I always talk about we should,
44:26
you know, talk to our, our state and federal representative and
44:30
local representative all the time.
44:31
We should have a relationship with them, especially with your wants and
44:34
needs, whether it's environment or anything else that they are there
44:38
to serve, like, to help, you know.
44:40
Vest your interest in the whole product and they need to listen to you.
44:44
When we talk about having a public comment period open, what do people
44:50
say that will make it effective?
44:53
You know, 'cause they can say, I don't want this.
44:55
And put that in digital form and, you know, sign their name to it
44:57
if they want, or be anonymous.
45:00
What is in, in, in your experience at Oceania's experience is the, the,
45:04
the sort of the best bang for their buck in terms of what they can say.
45:08
That will help them turn, like, change their minds, help the
45:11
government change their minds.
45:15
So there's the simple answer, which is we have an action alert.
45:19
It's, it's drop the drill.org.
45:21
It's some, it sort of pre-populates a comment that you can then edit, right?
45:26
But in this case, as in all cases, you don't fully know the,
45:32
how the decision will be made.
45:34
You can predict, 'cause you can take a look at who's in the administration,
45:37
that they're gonna care about economics, they're gonna care.
45:40
That doesn't mean you should just comment on things they care about.
45:42
Like this is a record of what the public thinks.
45:44
Yeah.
45:44
And it should be reflective of the vast significant interest.
45:49
But in this case, almost everything like tourism.
45:52
Do you care about that your business?
45:54
Most 40.
45:55
You know, most people, so many people, millions of people live near the coast.
45:58
Mm-hmm.
45:59
This is your backyard.
46:00
This is your ocean.
46:01
Yeah.
46:01
Um, the Marine life, the future that you want for the world.
46:05
Sea level rise.
46:06
I mean, there's just so many connections.
46:07
So this is a chance to speak about everything you care about.
46:10
And what is important is enough people speak up.
46:15
We'll be sure to cover all the bases, right?
46:17
We've got the elected leaders stepping up.
46:19
Yeah, they're covering their, and that's, and not just the Congress, but you know,
46:22
their local leaders, legislators from the state, mayors, chambers of Commerce,
46:27
all of them are speaking up right now.
46:29
So you'll be joining a chorus and when you prevail, and I think there's
46:34
a good chance we're gonna be able to get a lot of these areas, we're moved.
46:38
We need momentum like that right now in, in the environmental movement.
46:42
We need, and for oceans, we need to show that you can.
46:45
Make a difference even in hard times that the common interest in a a healthy
46:50
coast is something we can still defend.
46:53
Yeah, absolutely.
46:55
I also think too, like if you share a story about why you love.
47:00
That, that particular coastline, wherever you are, like, I think
47:02
that would help too, right?
47:04
Because stories have power behind them and if you give like an emotional story
47:09
of why you like a Pacific area and why you don't want it to be changed,
47:13
uh, why you don't want it to be moved.
47:15
Uh, if you're a deep sea fisher, you're not gonna want fish where there's oil,
47:19
you know, platforms or there's oil and gas, you know, or, or potential
47:22
spill or chemicals that come out.
47:24
Um.
47:25
You know, you just don't want to have that compared to just nothing and
47:28
just open ocean, you know, you get to see a lot more and, and, and enjoy
47:33
it a lot more instead of just seeing these, these platforms that are out
47:36
there for years and years on, on end.
47:39
Not even, and not, that's not even, we're not even talking about, you know,
47:43
spills at this point, we're talking about more of just like the visual aspect of,
47:46
and having that peaceful aspect that a lot of fishers and hunters enjoy.
47:51
In, in national parks and, and Marine sanctuaries and Yeah, totally.
47:55
And so forth.
47:56
Yeah.
47:56
So I think stories would be, would be a great thing, uh, to, to have going on.
48:01
Okay.
48:02
So like, are we looking at, so from, from a, so if we, if people comment, you know,
48:08
their stories, their, you know, facts.
48:10
Go on.
48:11
Uh, sorry, what was the website again?
48:13
Just so people could know, oh, stop the drill.
48:16
Stop the drill.org org.
48:18
Okay.
48:18
So we'll, we'll, we'll stop the, the drill.org.
48:21
Go there, grab some facts.
48:23
If you need some and you wanna put 'em in, you know, you can,
48:25
you can put that in, you can make it, you know, the way you want it.
48:29
So it's not just the same message over and over again.
48:31
But I think that's, that's one way of, of looking at it.
48:34
What are we realistically looking at for objectives?
48:38
Objectives.
48:38
Now we're looking, are we looking at like full.
48:41
Prevention of, of leases is a realistic goal.
48:44
Is that, do you think that's a realistic goal to ask?
48:47
Well, I wanna just, uh, you is, I, I feel like there's an important follow up.
48:52
Please do.
48:52
Yeah.
48:52
To the question you just asked, which is Yes, write a letter, share personal
48:57
experience, but what I'm, what we're a part of, you know, and we have all
49:02
around the country field staff, we have people that we work with, we
49:05
have partners, close partners, um.
49:08
People have so much power and influence when they really care.
49:13
Like there's so many people with connections to the administration
49:16
and the president in Florida.
49:17
Mm-hmm.
49:17
There's so many people who are connected in ways they might not even expect.
49:21
Like if you're a military community in California and you depend
49:24
on the ability to do trusting and training out in that ocean.
49:27
Yeah.
49:27
Or you part of shipping in California and some of the biggest ports in
49:30
the world, and the thought of an oil spill off the port of LA and
49:34
what that would mean for you.
49:35
So like going and talking to your port.
49:38
Or talking to your local member and, um, all of that sort of bottom up,
49:44
um, and personal, like what, how could you influence this decision?
49:48
The creativity that we're observing all around the country is awesome.
49:52
And that's a part of the solution too.
49:54
I never even thought about that.
49:55
That's such a good point.
49:57
To like go to all the places where, you know, it's actually, it's really
50:01
important to make sure there's clean Seas and there's nothing, uh, uh, you
50:04
know, obstructing, you know, tourism and businesses at ports and, And so forth.
50:08
Um, and business leaders that are, that are along, that have influence that,
50:12
that have connections to senators, congress, people, the president,
50:17
you know, wherever they can get it.
50:19
Yeah.
50:19
This is like.
50:20
No holds Barr, I guess right now.
50:22
Right.
50:22
We need to pull out everything and, and, and get everybody talking.
50:26
And for this, I agree.
50:28
And I also think that there's a perspective of um, when you get past what
50:33
you were describing earlier where people feel defeated or hopeless or, or scared.
50:36
Mm-hmm.
50:38
Like a light opens up actually you have a lot of power.
50:40
Yeah.
50:40
There's a lot you can do even in, even in this administration, there's
50:43
plenty of ways to still make a difference and have influence and.
50:46
Uh, there are plenty of people like the Florida Republicans who very much
50:49
care about their shore, so there's a lot to tap into and a lot we can do.
50:53
Perfect.
50:54
Okay.
50:55
That's wonderful.
50:56
Um, I guess like, you know, from Oceania's perspective, what message do you hope
51:04
policy, policy makers and, and the public receive from Oceania's standpoint
51:09
and like about the kind of stewardship that's needed today Of the oceans?
51:15
Yeah, the.
51:17
In, in some ways it's, uh, oil spills are a nightmare.
51:20
It's time to move on.
51:22
They're destructive.
51:23
Yeah.
51:23
Terrible.
51:24
They're one of the worst things we can do to the planet.
51:26
And we need to stop the expansion of offshore drilling for sure.
51:29
That's one message.
51:30
Um, another message is, uh, that.
51:36
That we have a chance to choose a better future.
51:38
It's actually a moment where if we can prevail and help get
51:42
these areas out of this plan.
51:43
You were asking what's the hope?
51:44
Well, let's try and see what's possible.
51:46
Yeah.
51:46
But, uh, we should be able to take vast areas out.
51:49
All of that means that we can, we have momentum and power towards other forms of
51:54
clean energy and we kind of have shaped the future in a pretty fundamental way.
51:58
So that's another, uh, really key message.
52:02
Um.
52:03
And so, yeah, and, and, and I think the, the one that we keep trying and
52:08
you've, I, I, I mean, I've said it a lot, but it because is that this is
52:13
bipartisan, like truly bipartisan.
52:17
You can work even at this time, successfully together
52:22
because you share an interest.
52:23
Yeah.
52:24
And it may be from very different perspectives.
52:25
It might be because of military.
52:28
And business reasons and not for wildlife or maybe all of
52:32
the above, but we share that.
52:34
And regardless of what you think about anything else in environment,
52:39
no one wants an oil spill.
52:41
So let's start there and build from there.
52:43
And that is the perspective that we're trying to bring.
52:46
Perfect.
52:47
Perfect.
52:48
Any last?
52:50
Things you wanted to say before, before we end this interview?
52:53
This has been a fantastic interview, thanks to really motivate and, and you
52:57
just said some really great things to, to, in terms of, of how do you wanna
53:00
motivate, what do you want people to know as we kind of, you know, leave here, uh,
53:05
and, and, uh, you know, wanting them to comment, obviously, you know, talking
53:09
to their business leaders, talking to ports and, and things like that.
53:12
But what would you like them to know about this?
53:18
They can make a difference.
53:20
That they can make a difference and we can make a difference.
53:22
And this may not, you know, there's, it may not feel like
53:27
it, but this is a transformative moment on climate and energy.
53:30
This is a moment where actually we can make a huge change for some of the
53:35
biggest and most important coasts in the United States, and to have a vision
53:39
for America and for our communities and our coast that is thriving.
53:44
Yeah, but having thriving coasts, which is worth so much and will be worth so
53:49
much more in the future, uh, depends on not having oil spills, right.
53:54
Depends on holding the line today and not allowing a short term interest,
53:58
uh, to sort of, to take that risk with some of the places we care
54:03
about most and that are the worth the most in so many different ways.
54:06
Yeah.
54:07
So I, you know, the, this is, we hope people will, will contribute
54:11
in whatever way they can.
54:13
Comment letters would be great.
54:15
Yeah.
54:15
Um, but anything, uh, right now could make a difference.
54:19
And the, the way this process works, and this is where I'll end, is that if they
54:23
take areas out, they don't come back.
54:25
Mm-hmm.
54:25
So this is the, you know, that this is the draft plan.
54:28
We would love to see lots of this out of the final.
54:32
Uh, it was a first draft.
54:33
Everyone makes mistakes in the first draft.
54:35
Let's fix it.
54:36
Right?
54:36
Yeah.
54:37
And, uh, and get it to be a plan that is as small as
54:40
possible for offshore drilling.
54:42
Yeah.
54:42
And do everything we can, uh, to try and advance, um, clean energy
54:46
and to work together to protect coasts from all the various threats
54:49
that are underway right now.
54:51
Gotcha.
54:52
Now, uh, for people who are outside the us, non non-American
54:56
citizens, and is it, uh.
54:59
Worthwhile to comment as well.
55:01
Are they able to comment and put their stories in as well?
55:05
I think they can provide comments.
55:07
Yeah.
55:07
Okay.
55:07
Um, yeah, I think so.
55:09
Um, I feel like it would be necessary.
55:11
A lot of people travel to the us you know, especially California, you know,
55:14
Alaska, you know, Florida, you know, all the, uh, gulf coasts that travel
55:18
to be on the beaches, you know, tourism money, you know, and I feel as though
55:24
that would help in terms of like making sure that tourists are well taken
55:28
care of as well, and making sure that people keep coming down, um, without,
55:31
without oil on the, on the shores.
55:33
That's a really great point and I think it, it's worth absolutely worth.
55:37
You know, one of the things that happens is we make these decisions, but the
55:41
voices of people in other countries who really matter and care and the voices
55:45
of future generations aren't there.
55:46
And that's a responsibility we have.
55:48
Yeah.
55:49
Uh, you know, for, but also, yeah, I think the should comment.
55:53
Perfect.
55:54
Perfect.
55:54
Well, Joseph, this has been fantastic.
55:56
I feel same invigorated.
55:58
I feel inspired.
56:00
I hope everybody else feels inspired as well.
56:03
I wanna thank you so much for the work that Thank you you do, and
56:05
the work that Oceania does, and also coming on the podcast and
56:08
just sharing, uh, your knowledge.
56:09
Thank you, and/or, and what we can do.
56:10
I think it's really important.
56:11
Yeah.
56:12
Thank you so much.
56:13
Appreciate it.
56:13
Thank you, Joseph, for joining us on today's episode of the How
56:16
to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
56:17
It was great to have you on so many great tidbits of
56:20
information to inspire us to act.
56:23
We can use the public comment period and make comments.
56:26
You can go to stop the drill.org.
56:29
I'll put that link in the show notes.
56:30
Go there and use the information from there to add your
56:33
public comment if you want.
56:35
Curtail to your story, what you want to see out of this plan.
56:38
If you want stop, you know, I highly recommend that you put a pen to paper
56:42
or, you know, use your keyboard to put that ink and, and that digital
56:45
ink into the notes and make sure they know how you feel to ensure that
56:49
we don't have this plan go forward.
56:50
This is gonna be really bad for the future.
56:52
Last time the Trump administration ended up protecting a great part
56:56
of the coastline from the Carolinas all the way down to Florida.
56:59
Hopefully that can happen.
57:00
Again, this is gonna be a very important aspect and like as
57:03
Joseph says, this is the US at a crossroads, which are we gonna decide?
57:06
Are we gonna go oil and gas?
57:07
Are we gonna go renewals?
57:09
This is where we decide.
57:10
And it's up to you to have that public comment.
57:12
If you do not comment, then you can't complain.
57:14
What happens?
57:15
F this is the time for you to speak up for the blue.
57:18
Speak up for the ocean.
57:19
This is how you protect the ocean.
57:21
This is what we're gonna be doing.
57:22
There's a lot of campaigns going on.
57:23
This is one of them.
57:24
Ocean is great.
57:25
They have a lot of connections and this is great to be a part of.
57:28
But also use your connections, use your family's connections, whatever you can
57:31
do to make sure that we have people in high places who are understanding
57:34
that this is not a good plan to move forward in this day and age.
57:38
With that said, check out the links below and if you have a comment, you
57:41
want to leave a comment or a question.
57:43
If you have a question, do that in the comments below.
57:45
If you're watching this on YouTube, if you are listening to this on your favorite
57:49
podcast app, whether it be Apple Music, apple Podcasts, Spotify, whatever that
57:53
might be, if you're listening to this on the website, speak up for blue.com.
57:56
You can connect with me in a multitude of different ways.
57:59
There's gonna be links.
58:00
Down below in the show notes so you can connect with me.
58:02
There's ways you can actually leave voicemails with me or you can leave
58:06
comments with me if you have any comments if you're listening to this, the audio.
58:10
So I'm gonna put that link below.
58:11
But essentially it's gonna be speak up for blue.com/comment
58:16
that you can do that as well.
58:17
I'd love to hear from you.
58:18
And of course, if you wanna follow us on a specific podcast app,
58:21
you haven't done that before.
58:22
Speak up for blue.com/follow and of course we'd love a rating and
58:26
review on your favorite podcast app.
58:28
But until next time, I wanna thank you so much.
58:30
Not only Joseph for joining us, but you for joining us on this episode of
58:33
the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
58:35
I am your host, and/or Lewin from the True North Strong and free.
58:37
Have a great day.
58:38
We'll talk to you next time and happy conservation.