Stop New Offshore Drilling
The Trump administration wants to open almost all of America鈥檚 coastline to the oil industry, putting our beaches and oceans at serious risk.
Fifty years ago, an offshore rig spilled 100,000 barrels of crude oil into California鈥檚 Santa Barbara Channel, creating a 35-mile slick that .
It should have been the end of offshore oil in the United States, but Big Oil don鈥檛 surf, and the industry has always been more concerned about its own profits than the damage done to America鈥檚 waves, waters and marine wildlife. So our oceans keep suffering鈥攁nd not just from high-profile spills like Santa Barbara in 1969, the Deepwater Horizon in 2010, and Refugio in 2015. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 鈥渢housands of oil spills occur in U.S. waters each year,鈥� and there have been since the Santa Barbara catastrophe first brought offshore oil into the public eye.

Spilled crude at the waterline on Refugio State Beach in Southern California. In May 2015, a ruptured oil pipe dumped over 140,000 gallons of oil with the slick spreading along seven miles of the Gaviota Coast. Hundreds of birds and marine mammals were killed, commercial fisheries were shut down for weeks, and the surf break at Refugio State Park was closed for months. Photo: Paul 欧博会员入口llman
Now, despite the inarguable risks, the Trump administration is trying to open almost all of America鈥檚 coastline to drilling and exploration. The administration鈥檚 was to 鈥渕ake more than 98 percent of the offshore continental shelf available,鈥� and 鈥渁llows for unprecedented access to America鈥檚 extensive offshore oil and gas resources.鈥� It鈥檚 a radical and potentially disastrous plan that must be resisted by everyone who cares about America鈥檚 coasts, oceans and climate鈥攅specially those of us who want to keep on riding waves.
鈥淭his is going to pollute the ocean and put our breaks at risk,鈥� notes Pete Stauffer, the environmental director of the Surfrider Foundation. “Expanded drilling will also industrialize our coastlines and threaten聽coastal communities, economies and livelihoods. As surfers, we need to speak out against the federal government’s dangerous plans鈥攖he ocean is a public resource, and our leaders are required to consider聽the public鈥檚聽input.鈥�

Surfers paddle out en masse to protest Equinor鈥檚 deepwater drilling plans in the Great Australian Bight. Torquay, Australia. Photo: Ed Sloane
It鈥檚 not just an American issue, either鈥攖he global climate knows no borders, and neither do the ocean鈥檚 storms, swells and currents. Our friends Down Under are among the many surfers and activists standing up to Big Oil around the world, as a Norwegian company called Equinor tries to turn the Great Australian Bight into an oil field. The Bight is one of our planet鈥檚 last great tracts of marine wilderness, and the company鈥檚 own spill modeling shows the potential of oil washing up on the entire length of the South Australian coastline, not to mention the damage to water quality and wildlife offshore. Like the Trump proposal, drilling in Australia鈥檚 offshore waters is too dangerous to accept, and you can learn more about the Fight for the Bight here.
Stop New Offshore Drilling
Whether it鈥檚 America, Australia or anywhere else on our shared planet, what we do now will determine the future of our oceans, and there鈥檚 simply no time to lose. Patagonia is supporting Surfrider in its campaign to stop new offshore drilling, and you can help stop President Trump鈥檚 plan before it鈥檚 too late.