Hundreds of Gulf Coast residents, supported by local and national environmental and social-justice groups, rallied at the Superdome in New Orleans today in an unprecedented call to end federal offshore fossil fuel lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico. Today’s lease sale of 43 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico is the first since the Obama administration unveiled a five-year offshore drilling plan that protects the Atlantic but leaves the Gulf and Arctic open to dirty and dangerous fossil fuel extraction projects. Last week groups sent a letter to President Obama asking him to immediately cancel this auction, whose sales will contribute significantly to global carbon emissions. Offshore drilling also threatens the well-being of Gulf Coast communities and wildlife. Out of more than 5,000 active federal oil and gas leases, most are in the Gulf.
— source biologicaldiversity.org