Opposing drilling for gas and oil off our Atlantic coast is an important policy position for LRNOW.  

On April 18, 2025, the Department of Interior announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy management (BOEM) would be initiating the process to develop the 11^th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leases Program. This development seeks to open federal waters in the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific, to potential leases for oil and gas drilling projects – projects that we at LRNOW oppose in their entirety. Considering the threat that offshore drilling poses, LRNOW and our partner organizations are reigniting the mission to prevent offshore drilling from happening off our coast.

During the 2020 legislative session, we worked with our Virginia General Assembly representatives to pass landmark legislation that removes support for offshore drilling from our State Code and puts restrictions on drilling infrastructure in the three mile coastal area controlled by the Commonwealth of Virginia. This is important legislation and a big step forward in our fight against offshore drilling.

Currently, offshore drilling must be addressed annually in the congressional budget process. Our goal, however, is to pass legislation at the federal level which permanently prohibits new offshore seismic testing, leasing, and offshore drilling in US waters off the East Coast and the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. This would permanently protect Virginia’s outer continental shelf from all drilling activities.

Since 2017, we have worked hard with a wide range of partners to oppose seismic testing and drilling for gas and oil off the coast of Virginia. There are many reasons to oppose drilling off of the Virginia coast. They include:

• Seismic testing and drilling are extremely dangerous and potentially deadly to marine mammals and other ocean wildlife.
• Tourism is a major contributor to our economy in Virginia Beach and could be devastated not just by a major spill, but also by the cumulative impact of the small spills that are a part of day to day oil and gas drilling operations.
• Healthy local seafood is important to all of us and employs many who make coastal Virginia their home. Crabs, oysters, clams and commercial and sport fish are put at great risk by drilling operations.
• NASA’s activities at Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia will be compromised by oil and gas activity in the Atlantic off the coast of Virginia.
• And lastly, the US Navy has identified most of the area off the coast of Virginia as critical to their training activities which do not mix with oil rigs and drilling operations.

LRNOW is a proud member of the Virginia Conservation Network’s Offshore Drilling Workgroup and Virginia Coastal Alliance (VACA). VACA’s amplified voice against offshore drilling is a critical element in both sharpening our message and speaking to legislators with a synchronized voice. The Alliance is working closely to rally around other important environmental issues with the same powerful single voice that was successful in the offshore drilling campaign.
Follow @VirginiaCoastalAlliance on Instagram.

Questions? Please contact dylan@lrnow.org

Guide to Making Comments

With the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) comment period open until June 16, 2025, LRNow encourages you to sign this petition to express your opposition to oil and gas drilling or submit your own comment to the BOEM.

Our friends at Oceana have developed a “Comment to Oppose Offshore Drilling toolkit” that makes expressing your opinion easy. Find those resources here.

Talking Points

Protect Our Coast: Say No to New Offshore Drilling

Why Offshore Drilling Is a Threat

Marine Life at Risk

1. High-intensity air guns used in seismic surveys can cause irreversible hearing damage, disorientation, and even death in whales, dolphins, and sea turtles.
2. Routine drilling operations introduce noise, chemical pollution, and vessel traffic that disrupt feeding, breeding, and migratory patterns.

Economic Devastation

1. Virginia Beach and other coastal communities rely on tourism; a single major spill—or the constant low-level leaks of day-to-day drilling—could cripple lodging, fishing charters, restaurants, and beach rentals.
2. Our local seafood industry—harvesting crabs, oysters, clams, and finfish—faces chronic contamination risk, threatening jobs and public health.

Impact on Science & National Security

1. NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore could see launches delayed or canceled due to overflight restrictions, safety hazards, and air quality concerns.
2. The U.S. Navy designates much of the mid-Atlantic Shelf as critical training grounds; oil rigs and support vessels obstruct maneuvers and pose collision risks.

Our Progress So Far

2020 Virginia Legislative Victory

• • Working side-by-side with your General Assembly members, we successfully removed state-level support for offshore drilling from the Virginia Code and barred new drilling infrastructure within three miles of our coast.

Federal Budget Protections

• • Since 2017, Congress has kept Virginia’s offshore ocean areas off the lease-sale calendar through the appropriations process each year. However, annual riders can be undone at any time. We need consistent and ongoing protections.

What We’re Fighting For

We’re pushing for permanent, nationwide legislation that would:

• Ban all new seismic testing in the Atlantic, Eastern Gulf, and Pacific waters
• Prohibit any new leasing or development of oil and gas infrastructure
• Safeguard Virginia’s outer Continental Shelf from seismic surveys to the final wellhead

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Our economy, environment, and security depend on a healthy, drill-free coastline. Stand with LRNOW—and together we’ll keep federal waters off-limits to extractive industries.

Stay Informed × Stay Engaged × Don’t Drill VA