Why are we putting our most valuable coastal and ocean economies at risk for outdated and deadly oil and gas drilling? We just can't. Now is the time to protect future generations by vocalizing your opposition to offshore drilling. You have until March 9, 2018 to submit your comment to officials - you can do so here at regulations.gov: https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=BOEM-2017-0074-0001 Thank you for speaking up for our seas! Pro tip: You can keep tally of the total comments submitted to regulations.gov about the offshore drilling plan here (not that we're obsessively checking or anything): https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=BOEM-2017-0074-0001 Comment Tips: 1. Refer to fact-based information. 2. Include links to data or research. 3. Provide specifics regarding impacts to the ocean and coasts. Sample Comment: We REJECT new offshore drilling lease sales in the U.S. waters of the Pacific, Gulf and Atlantic. We stand in support of Heal the Bay, California Coastkeeper Alliance and Surfrider Foundation in their efforts to Protect the Pacific and all oceans. Oil and water don't mix, as shown by recent spills. And fossil fuel extraction efforts continue to cause extreme economic harm. In 1969, a well blowout off the Santa Barbara coastline pumped nearly 4 million gallons of crude oil into the Pacific and onto the beaches of Southern California. Since then, local lawmakers and the public in California have worked tirelessly to prevent spills and leaks from ruining our environment and $18 billion coastal economy—by rejecting any new oil and gas drilling leases offshore in federal waters. In 2015, a ruptured pipeline spewed over 100,000 gallons of crude oil onto the pristine Gaviota Coast, just west of Refugio State Beach, with an estimated 21,000 gallons reaching the water. The Refugio spill killed hundreds of ocean creatures, closed popular beaches for weeks and shut down fisheries for 138 square miles, severely impacting the area’s commercial and recreational anglers. The catastrophic Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill took 11 lives and caused more than $17 billion in damages to natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Let’s not risk another disaster. Now is NOT the time to roll back safety standards and abandon hard-fought protections. We demand that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the United States Secretary of the Interior REJECT the draft proposal for potentially increasing oil and gas development and production in U.S. federal waters starting as early as 2019. Offshore oil and gas production poses an unacceptably high risk of damage and disruption to our marine environment and coastal communities and businesses. We don't have to choose between a bustling national economy and clean, safe and healthy local environments. We can have both. We must protect our oceans and coasts. Please prioritize research and development to reduce the pollution in our oceans and communities by better understanding the actual human impact on our invaluable environmental resources - and coming up with more policies and regulations that hold big polluters accountable.