Category Archives: Advocacy

Action Alert: Oppose Offshore Drilling

Posted on March 1, 2018 by Hillary T.

The US Department of the Interior recently made a decision to expand offshore oil and gas leasing to encompass around 90% of US coastlines. This means that the coast off of New England, could now be opened up to drilling.

This decision could have severe impacts on the environment, and you can help stop this from happening. The deadline to submit comments to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is March 9.

© Jennifer Childs

Impact of Offshore Drilling

The exploration, development, and production of oil and gas off the Massachusetts Outer Continental Shelf would have severe impacts on fisheries, wildlife habitat, and geological resources.

Offshore drilling could threaten areas like Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which provides feeding grounds for species like the endangered humpback whale and Kemp’s ridley sea turtle.

It also poses a risk to the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Marine Monument, home to four underwater, extinct volcanoes, which feature thousand-year-old corals found nowhere else on earth.

Massachusetts and all of New England depend on a thriving coastal and ocean economy – which brings in $17.5 billion annually to the region’s – and that success in turn depends on healthy coastal and ocean ecosystems.

Let BOEM know that we can’t afford to place our invaluable natural spaces at risk by submitting comments online today. You can read the comments Mass Audubon submitted and learn more about the issue of off-shore drilling.

Thank you for taking this action to protect the nature of Massachusetts!

Wellfleet Bay

Speak Up On Climate Change Legislation

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Daniel Brown

A key climate change preparedness bill is being discussed in the Massachusetts House this week and it needs your support. The Comprehensive Adaptation Management Plan (CAMP) will:

  • Help protect people and wildlife from climate change
  • Safeguard our infrastructure
  • Set an example of responsible climate action for the rest of the country to follow

Take action by calling your state representative in the House and tell them to support CAMP (HB2147).

Why Support CAMP?

Climate change is already affecting Massachusetts. Many of our communities are unprepared for rising seas, stronger storms, more dangerous heat waves, and myriad other challenges. CAMP would help them prepare.

CAMP will require the state to identify our people and places that are most vulnerable. It will help us prepare for a greater risk of natural disasters. It will establish new ways for municipalities to prosper in the face of climate change, and will encourage communities to work with willing landowners to reclaim and protect threatened areas.

The Massachusetts Senate has already passed the CAMP bill, the first of its kind in the United States, and it’s time for the Massachusetts House to do the same.

Call your state representative and tell them to send the rest of the country a powerful message that Massachusetts intends lead in the fight against climate change.