The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Erin Jensen,Email:,EJensen@foe.org

Offshore Drilling Opponents Rally Outside D.C. Hearing

WASHINGTON

On Tuesday, April 26, the Obama Administration is holding a meeting to hear feedback on the proposed 2017-2022 offshore drilling program. Advocates concerned about climate change and the health of their communities will gather outside the D.C. meeting to celebrate their victory over Big Oil in the Atlantic Ocean, and call on President Obama to end new drilling in the Arctic region and the Gulf of Mexico.

What: Advocates rally against offshore drilling outside the D.C. hearing; a crowd of 100+ will rally with signs, a billboard, and colorful banners that read "No Offshore Drilling" and "Keep It In the Ground."

Who: Speakers include:

Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR)

Michael Brune, Executive Director, Sierra Club

Rev. Lennox Yearwood, President and CEO, Hip Hop Caucus

Besse Odom, Anchorage NAACP Youth Council Vice President

Laura Wood Habr, Virginia Beach business owner and community activist

Bernadette Demientieff, Alaska Native activist and Acting Executive Director of the Gwich'in Steering Committee

Where: Corner of 12th and G St NW, Washington, D.C. In the park by the Metro Center escalator, adjacent to the Metro Center Marriott at 775 12th Street NW.

When: 5:00 p.m., Tuesday April 26, 2015 (BOEM meeting from 3:00-7:00 p.m.)

Why: The movement to stop offshore drilling has mobilized millions of Americans across the country. Last month, in response to relentless grassroots organizing, the Obama Administration excluded the Atlantic coast from the next 2017-2022 offshore drilling program. Now, front line communities and climate activists are banding together to call on President Obama to also protect Arctic and Gulf communities from the dangers of offshore drilling.

Groups organizing the event include: 350.org, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, League of Conservation Voters, Alaska Wilderness League, Hip Hop Caucus, Center for Biological Diversity, Environment America, Friends of the Earth U.S., Indigenous Environmental Network, Oil Change International, Greenpeace USA, Rainforest Action Network, and Redoil.

Friends of the Earth fights for a more healthy and just world. Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.

(202) 783-7400