WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- The U.S. government is called on to halt offshore drilling in an effort to preserve the climate for future generations, Friends of the Earth said.
The advocacy group said it was frustrated with the latest auction of 434,000 acres in the Gulf of Mexico to energy explorers. Campaigner Marissa Knodel said the sale comes despite the lack of comprehensive congressional action taken in response to the BP oil spill in 2010.
"The federal government's addiction to fossil fuels threatens the health and vitality of the waters, wildlife and coastal communities in the Gulf of Mexico," she said in a statement Thursday.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the acreage auctioned off this week could lead to the production of between 116 million and 200 million barrels of oil and 538 billion and 938 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
A coalition of oil and gas groups pressing for more access to offshore reserves said in a letter to the Interior Department this week offshore incident response has improved dramatically in the wake of the BP spill.
Knodel said the federal government has a "moral obligation" to protect the environment by leaving fossil fuels in the ground.
