In Opposition to Offshore Oil Drilling

“The plan would put the thousands of sea and coastal birds at risk including the hundreds of nesting Ospreys which are totally dependent on the migrant fish population in Long Island Sound.”

The Connecticut Audubon Society has joined scores of other organizations in opposing the Trump Administration’s plan to expand offshore oil drilling. Here are our comments, submitted by Executive Director Patrick Comins:

March 7, 2018

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240

Comments from the Connecticut Audubon Society regarding the 2019-2024 Draft Proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program

Founded in 1898 the Connecticut Audubon Society is an independent organization that conserves Connecticut’s environment through science-based education and advocacy focused on the state’s bird populations and habitats.

We are writing to oppose the proposed offshore drilling along the coasts and beaches of Connecticut and New York as proposed by the Trump Administration’s Five-Year Plan for offshore oil and gas leasing.

The proposed plan unnecessarily threatens severe and unacceptable harm to our coastal waters including Long Island Sound, an estuary of national importance and critical to our regional economy, public health and marine life.

The plan would put the thousands of sea and coastal birds at risk including the hundreds of nesting Ospreys which are totally dependent on the migrant fish population in Long Island Sound. Our Osprey Nation citizen science partnership, found that in 2017 there were 540 Osprey nests in Connecticut alone; 607 young birds fledged from those nests.

As Long Island Sound is a focal area of the Atlantic Flyway, it concentrates migratory bird populations within its 187 mile length from Rhode Island to New York. Hundreds of bird species and a remarkable and diverse fish population are dependent on its health. As a marine life nursery, the waters of the Sound discharge into the Atlantic Ocean and provide the essential nutrients needed for the health of the ocean and the pelagic fish species we depend on for food.    

Drilling rigs and oil and gas exploration would pose an unacceptable risk to our waters, our people and our wildlife.  Simply one unfortunate accident could destroy the health of these waters and the livelihood of the 50 million people who live within its watershed for decades or longer.
Respectfully,

Patrick M. Comins
Executive Director