Reef Relief urges you to sign your company or organization on to our letter requesting that President Obama reconsider any future leasing and drilling for oil and gas off Florida in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic until the cause and effects of this ongoing oil spill is known and resolved.
DRAFT
May 7, 2010
President Barack Obama
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D C 20500
Dear President Obama:
We, the undersigned governments, organizations, and businesses of the Florida Keys respectively request that you publically reconsider any plans for future leasing and drilling for oil and gas off Florida in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic until the cause and effects of this ongoing oil spill tragedy in the north central Gulf are known and resolved.
The recent Transocean drilling incident aboard the Deepwater Horizon off Louisiana, and resultant 200,000 to nearly one million gallons per day oil spill that is now threatening sensitive shorelines and coastal economies along the entire northern Gulf region, including the Florida Keys, is cause for such action. All spills in the Gulf of Mexico must exit through the Straits of Florida and our Florida Keys.
Completed in 2001, the Deepwater Horizon rig operated by BP Oil represented the cutting edge of drilling technology that is currently touted as “safe and reliable” for expanding offshore drilling in the deep waters of the Gulf and South Atlantic. This spill clearly demonstrates that these technical “safe guards” are not reliable nor safe enough to protect our sensitive marine and coastal resources and the many jobs and economies they support.
Although you have indicated your willingness to halt drilling, it does not make sense to allow further leasing in these areas to proceed.
Please show the people of Florida, the Gulf coast and the entire United States that you do care and that some areas of our country are just too environmentally sensitive and the economic consequences just too great for these extremely dangerous and risky activities to be seriously considered.
Thank you
Sincerely,
YOUR ORGANIZATION HERE (Please Email your organization’s name, your name and title to [email protected] or [email protected] by May 15th and we will include you in our letter.
ALSO, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO WIDELY DISTRIBUTE THIS SIGN-ON LETTER