WE ARE AT THE FOREFRONT OF AN EPIC ENVIRONMENTAL BATTLE currently being waged between multi-billion dollar corporations like ExxonMobil, and the everyday People of our state...People who want nothing but to keep our coastlines clean from the dirty business of oil drilling. For the past 25 years we’ve been moderately successful; a national moratorium prohibiting the establishment of new offshore drilling sites has both maintained Virginia’s beaches as high-quality recreational areas, and preserved some of our uniquely beautiful wild spaces for future generations to enjoy.But if ExxonMobil and the Republican-controlled legislature have their way, Virginia’s coasts will never be the same again.
Exxon (and the legislators they control like marionettes) wants Virginia to “declare her independence” from the moratorium and open her beaches to offshore drilling. Using nationalistic rhetoric, they have set the tone of the debate by phrasing the issue as a “state’s right to choose” to drill off its own coast—in this case off the coast of our very own Virginia Beach.
This is not a state’s-rights issue. This moratorium was originally put in place when “tarballs” (large, solid chunks of congealed oil) kept washing-up on the beaches of Southern California. We, the People of Virginia, have a right to expect clean coasts from our government. It is our right to know that the environment is being cared for in a responsible manner. Oil drilling—particularly offshore—is a dirty and dangerous business that strikes at the core of this inherent right. In these times of growing environmental crises, we cannot afford another chink in the ever-weakening legal protections provided to defend our planet.
The Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center, a program within government-controlled NASA, states that 0.25% of global environmental oil production (6 million TONS per year) is ultimately spilled into the world’s oceans--fifteen million gallons of oil EACH DAY, or one hundred and fifty-six ExxonValdez-sized spills annually. An end to the quarter-century long moratorium on offshore drilling will only lead to an increase in the number of these spills. But this time, the crisis will be much closer to home. Bringing the dirtiest business in the world to the shores of Virginia will have no ultimate effect but to degrade the natural and recreational environment of our state.
Now is the time to fight back. We, the People of Virginia, elected Tim Kaine as our Governor for a reason; we put our trust in the expectation that he would fight for our rights; that he would be a voice of common sense in a debate desperately in need of some lucidity.
Call Gov. Kaine at (804) 786- 2211 and tell him to veto SB262.
The future of our coast depends upon your action.
