Grupos climáticos se oponen a planes de Trump para expandir perforaciones
Several climate defense groups say that the removal of marine protection by the President of the United States is illegal.
Two climate defense groups in the United States have filed two lawsuits against the Trump administration this week. These are the first legal challenges filed by environmental groups against the onslaught of environmental rollbacks by the President of the United States. Both lawsuits indicate Trump’s attempts to open up oceans to oil and gas projects in the free sea. These efforts by the new administration are taking place despite the fact that the United States is producing more oil than any other nation in history. The petitioners in both lawsuits argue that these measures to cancel marine protection are illegal.
«We have seen the impact of offshore drilling on our vulnerable oceanic waters and how it affects communities, marine life, and ecosystem health,» said senior attorney Devorah Ancel at Sierra Club, an American environmental organization. «When nearly 40% of Americans live in coastal counties that depend on a healthy ocean to thrive, removing critical protections shows how little Trump cares.» Trump attempted this illegal measure to revoke protection during his first administration and failed. We will continue working to ensure that this time is not successful.
Revocation of the ban on drilling for oil and gas in U.S. waters
The first lawsuit challenges an executive order signed by Trump just a few hours after assuming office. It reverses the protection of former President Biden for large areas of U.S. coastal waters to allow for future oil and gas leases. The legal challenge was filed by several local and national organizations, including Greenpeace, Sierra Club, Oceana, and the Northern Alaska Environmental Center.
During his presidency, Biden protected millions of acres of American waters (from Canada to the southern tip of Florida) by drilling for oil offshore. These protections are what Trump wanted to eliminate on his first day in office as part of an effort to increase oil and gas production in the country.
«The President Trump’s executive order would reverse millions of acres of ocean protection, endangering our coastal livelihoods of people who depend on healthy and prosperous oceans,» said Oceana’s campaign director, Joseph Gordon.
The nonprofit EarthJustice organization, dedicated to environmental rights, represents the ocean and many other climate defense groups involved in the case. They argue that while the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act allows presidents to withdraw marine areas for oil and gas leasing, it does not authorize them to revoke withdrawals made by previous presidents.
«We defeated Trump the first time he tried to reverse protections and sacrifice more of our waters to the oil industry. We will continue to challenge this abuse of the law in court,» said EarthJustice attorney Steve Mashuda.
Opening up the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans for drilling
The second related lawsuit was filed by many of the same groups and numerous environmental organizations in Alaska. Its goal is to restore a federal court decision from 2021 that prevented the Trump administration from canceling protections for the Arctic and Atlantic oceans from the Obama era.
«The Arctic Ocean was protected from our drilling for nearly a decade, and these protections have been upheld by federal courts,» said Sierra Weaver, lead attorney for Defenders of Wildlife, one of the groups involved in this case.
«Although these protections were in place, the administration shows no restraint in its attempt to hand over some of our most fragile and pristine landscapes for the benefit of the oil industry.
«We must not submit our request again, because President Trump has already lost the last time he tried,» said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters, who led a coalition of groups in a successful challenge to this order during Trump’s first administration. «We are showing Congress, the President, and the people in this country our commitment to defending coastal communities and waters already protected from risky and dirty offshore drilling.»
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