<![CDATA[CREATION JUSTICE MINISTRIES

<![CDATA[CREATION JUSTICE MINISTRIES - Blog]]>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 06:29:52 -0500Weebly<![CDATA[Named and Known: Women's Leadership in Creation Justice]]>Fri, 06 Mar 2026 10:55:30 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/named-and-known-womens-leadership-in-creation-justice

Soon afterward he went on through one town and village after another, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered to them[a] out of their own resources.
(Luke 8: 1-3, NRSVUE)

The eighth chapter begins with an easily overlooked detail: there were women among Jesus’ disciples. In fact the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible opens the chapter with the heading “Some Women Follow Jesus”. It’s almost a throwaway line, a detail that gives color and context to the larger narrative. It would, in some ways, be typical of the American church to overlook these lines and yet it is important that we not fall into this trap. The women named here are those who have witnessed the ministry of Jesus first hand and even been beneficiaries of His healing and liberation. They range from those of low stature to those who have worked in the homes of the powerful. They’ve heard Jesus, they’ve responded to Jesus, they follow Jesus… and yes, they support Jesus from their own pockets. Three women are named here. They are named because they matter.
How many others went unnamed?

Throughout my career, whenever I have been in spaces where the real hard work of seeking justice is happening, women outnumber men. These women, often Black and brown women, are the ones moving the conversations forward with courage and vulnerability. In these spaces I see less of the jockeying for position and fighting for recognition that I often see in men. I see collaboration, courage, and vulnerability. Today, I can’t imagine my work at CJM happening without the faithfulness and energy of the women of our staff, board, and many partners. It is truly a blessing to know and work with them! The scholarship, activism, writing, and preaching of the women I have the privilege of working with is nothing short of heroic.

It may seem strange as women’s history month begins to have this piece written by a man when I am a part of this rich network of women, and yet I write this with the male audience of CJM in mind. Men, we need to do better! We live in a world that is steeped in patriarchy and misogyny. We live in a time where the contributions of women at the highest levels can be belittled and have that belittling dismissed as “lockerroom talk”. We live in one of the few developed nations that has yet to have had a woman at the highest of offices. I see on social media all the time that my female colleagues in ministry have to fight the narrative that they cannot (or should not ) be pastors. As the husband of a pastor I have watched my wife’s authority be undermined by men who would call themselves “allies”.

I confess my own misogyny and the many ways I have benefitted from patriarchy when there have been women in the room with more talent and integrity than my own. I’ve been the guy who has devalued women and laughed at the joke to fit in. I hate to be a cliche, but I’m a man who has evolved as I raise daughters and particularly as they have reached their teenage years. I don’t want them to ever feel that there are barriers to their accomplishments because of their gender. I know I can’t shield them and sometimes the world they are being raised in scares me. Lord, have mercy!

We can’t do Creation justice without justice for women.

We can’t do Creation justice without justice for women. And we have to be honest that there are many times when it has been the church’s rhetoric that has stood in the way of progress for women despite the fact that we have a rich history of female pastors, priests, and prophets.

God created us, both male and female, in God’s image and we do harm when we do not recognize the Divine image reflected in our sisters, mothers, daughters, and friends. I’m grateful for the climate science leadership of Dr. Katherine Hayhoe and Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. I’m grateful for the preaching of Rev. Dr. Leah Schade and Rev. Dr. Jerusha Neal. I’m grateful for the scholarship of Dr. Melanie Harris and Dr. Ellen Davis. I am grateful for the writing of Dr. Debra Rienstra and Dr. Carolyn Finney. I’m grateful for the organizing and advocacy of Sharon Lavigne and Karen Washington. And I’m grateful for the friendship and collegiality of the staff (and former staff) and board of CJM, most of whom are women, who do their work with faithfulness, strength, and love. I could go on and on. It’s important that we name both the past and current contributions of women and we lay the path for the future ones.

Derrick Weston
Director of Theological Education & Formation
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[Lenten Reflection: Lent & Policy]]>Mon, 23 Feb 2026 16:35:59 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/fy26-lentenpolicy-reflectionLent is a season for reflection, an invitation to examine the brokenness around us while also encouraging us to expand our imagination of what’s possible. Right now, many of us are grieving the broken state of politics in the United States and how the decisions of a few are causing immense harm to many.

This Lenten season, we lament the layers of harm being inflicted upon our neighbors and Creation. We bear witness to the ways in which public health is now endangered due to rollbacks of regulations that hold polluters accountable. We bear witness and we lament the attacks to sacred grounds like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home to the Gwich'in people, and Oak Flat, sacred grounds for the Western Apache peoples. We bear witness and lament the harms towards precious species, who are at risk of becoming endangered and the loss of those who have crossed the threshold of non-recovery.

This Lenten season, may we also recognize the moral urgency of confronting the escalating terror inflicted upon immigrant communities and people across the country. Our ability to build a future in which Creation can flourish depends on a strong and healthy democracy, one that upholds the rule of law, protects our First Amendment rights, and ensures free and fair elections. These systems are not merely political structures; they are instruments through which we are called to pursue the common good and safeguard the dignity of all.

Beyond the invitation to grieve and lament, lent is also an invitation to expand our imaginations. Faith communities play a critical role in not only resisting these harms, but calling for and building a new world together. Many faith communities are already leading the way, whether by holding their lawmakers accountable through advocacy, standing alongside their neighbors being attacked in the streets, establishing mutual aid or supporting existing structures, and installing clean infrastructure.

For people of faith, social justice and creation care are inseparable. When human lives are devalued, Creation itself is wounded. When fear and violence are normalized, our shared home suffers. The Lenten journey is an annual reminder of death, resurrection, and the hope of renewal, mirroring the rhythms of the natural world. In the face of overwhelming harm to Creation, the message of Easter offers hope that transformation and rebirth are within reach.This Lenten season, may we be reminded of the power of community and the hope that can be found in building a transformative way forward—one that honors Creation, protects the vulnerable, and sets a course toward renewed life.

Madison Mayhew
Policy & Advocacy Manager
Creation Justice Ministries
]]><![CDATA[Beneath the Canopy: Finding Life in Death This Lenten Season]]>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 19:07:59 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/beneath-the-canopy-finding-life-in-death-this-lenten-season

The temptation when one is walking through a forest is to look up. The beauty of the canopy, the song of birds, and the sunlight peeking through the overstory draw our attention. Recent science has brought our attention to the networks being formed under the surface. Roots and mycelia interplay in this wonderful system of connection that allows trees to communicate and even care for each other. These discoveries have left us as enamored with what we don’t as we are by sights that tower above us. And yet, when we look down, we see death and decay. Broken limbs, dead leaves, and layers of rot aided by fungi and insects. The grandeur of the forest is firmly planted in a sea of decomposition. In fact, the forest only exists because this layer of dead stuff supports it.

The Lenten journey draws us into a portion of the story that we would rather forget: death is an essential part of life. If there is ever to be growth it is the dead things that support the roots and provide the needed nourishment that allows for the future beauty. Death is a part of life, whether we want to see it or not. When we speak of protecting Creation, it is from those forms of death that invade the more than human world because of our own arrogance and greed, not the natural cycles of life of death that move Creation forward. Creation understands death as an inevitability, but not an ending.

Lent begins with a reminder of our own inevitable endings. In that reminder is a charge to live with purpose, conviction, and courage, to not waste the beautiful fragile lives we’ve been given. Also embedded in that reminder is an insistence that we in fact let go of those things in our lives that need to die; attitudes, habits, prejudices, and wrongly placed values that impede our experience of the abundant life Christ desires for us.

We see so much needless death in our world that we often forget that death is a part of God’s plan for us and the other members of Creation. Lent draws us back into the beautiful reminder that death creates the conditions for new life. As we spread the ashes reminding us of our mortality, let us do so with an eye toward letting go of those things that need to be released in hopes that they may the fertile soil of the new world to come.

Derrick Weston
Director of Theological Education & Formation
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[Acts of Faith: Tree Planting in Uncertain Times]]>Thu, 05 Feb 2026 20:58:01 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/acts-of-faith-tree-planting-in-uncertain-times“The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now." – Chinese Proverb

Caring for a climate-changed world requires that we strike a delicate balance. On one hand, we are called to name and address the injustices against God’s people and planet that we see happening in the present moment. At the same time we are asked to paint a picture of the just, whole, and loving world that we believe God desires and work toward making that world more of a reality everyday.

There are times when it feels like the first task is taking up the majority of our focus. In times when environmental protections are being stripped, major cities are being occupied by violent forces, and extreme winter storms are paralyzing much of the country, it’s easy to get caught up in what feels urgent and immediate. And yet while we need to tend to the necessities of the moment, it’s imperative that we keep an eye toward the world that we are trying to build. As our new vision statement says, we imagine “a world where all of God’s Creation thrives”. Over the years, there has been one member of Creation that has stood as a barometer for the whole community’s thriving: trees.

The only part of the created order that is mentioned more in scripture than trees is humans.

The only part of the created order that is mentioned more in scripture than trees is humans. The story of our faith is in some ways the story of humans and trees co-existing from the Garden of Eden in Genesis to the New Jerusalem in Revelation. Trees provide food, shelter, beauty and inspiration. Yet they also fall victim to being used as instruments of war and violence in human hands.

From Noah’s ark to the cross of Christ, trees have been witnesses to the narratives of fall and redemption on which our faith is built. Closer to home, trees have been an almost universally recognized symbol of conservation and ecological stewardship yet as we’re reminded in the pages of James Cone’s classic work The Cross and the Lynching Tree, they have also been reminders of some of the more tragic parts of this country’s history. It often goes unrecognized that access to tree covered areas has been denied to certain communities of people in this country based on race and income, with damaging consequences to both physical and emotional health.

The term “tree equity” is used in spaces that are aware of this harmful legacy and that are actively working to reverse it. Access to trees, healthy native trees that support the local ecosystem, is a justice issue. Over the next year, Creation Justice Ministries will be working with partners to facilitate tree planting events across the country in areas where tree canopy is low or nonexistent. We’ll be sharing more about those events in the coming months so stay tuned.

In the meantime, we want to invite you to download our 2026 annual resource, The Canopy of Creation: Trees, Faith, and the Work of Justice.
The resource includes:

an introductory framing of trees as a social justice issue
A theological framing of how trees show up in the biblical narrative
Stories of congregations and denominations doing important canopy work in their communities
Worship resources including sermon starters, prayers, and music suggestions
A resource to engage children around trees

We also have a robust and growing online supplemental resource that includes a comprehensive guide to tree planting.

DOWNLOAD NOW

In past years, we created an “Earth Day resource”, using the day as an occasion to bring specific issues into focus. And while we still hope that you’ll highlight the importance of Creation Justice on Earth day, we also hope that you won’t stop there. We want this to be an evergreen resource (see what I did there?) that can be used year round and in future years.

There is a lot in this world that is uncertain right now. One thing we can say for certain is that if we want to live in a world where everyone has access to all of the benefits that trees provide then we have to begin that work right now, even as we balance the competing needs of the day. Planting trees with an uncertain future is an act of faith. Planting trees in a time of despair is an act of hope. Planting trees that all can enjoy is an act of love. We hope you’ll join us both in resisting the injustices of the present and planting the just world we dream to build.

Derrick Weston
Director of Theological Education & Formation
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[When God Does a New Thing: A New Year Reflection]]>Mon, 29 Dec 2025 05:00:00 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/when-god-does-a-new-thing-a-new-year-reflectionDo not remember the former things
    or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
    now it springs forth; do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert
The wild animals will honor me,
    the jackals and the ostriches,
for I give water in the wilderness,
    rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
    the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.
Isaiah 43:18-21

Isn’t it telling that when the prophet declares that God is up to something new, it is signified by a healing in the ecology, a restoration of the wildlife, and an opportunity for God’s people to be a part of the new flourishing of Creation? The “new” is never just for humanity. It’s for all of Creation to rejoice in the falling away of the systems of brokenness and abuse and to seek a bold, hopeful future.

A new year doesn’t solve everything. It doesn’t right all of the wrongs of the 365 days that preceded it. It doesn’t undo the damages done nor bring back the lives lost. A new year doesn’t erase the feelings of fear, anger, hopelessness, and despair that we just lived through. It doesn’t mend the heartbreak. It doesn’t restore the devastation. That would be asking too much of a turn of the calendar.

Yet a new year is filled with potential. It is ripe with opportunity. A new year brings with it the hope that this one will be better, that this one will be more just and more loving.

A new year asks us to reflect on what we want to leave behind and what we’d like to see emerge. Granted, we won’t be able to leave it all behind, not at first. Not on day one. But we can step into this new year in the hopes that the good news will outweigh the bad. After all, we are people of good news!

There’s nothing magical that happens when we move from December 31st to January 1st. But we can approach this as a year as a time when maybe God will do a new thing.

Because if we believe that God is doing a new thing, then we’ll live in a new way and find ourselves right in the middle of the new thing that God is doing.

Derrick Weston
Director of Theological Education & Formation
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[What the Trees Teach Us at Christmas: A Christmas Reflection]]>Fri, 19 Dec 2025 05:00:00 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/what-the-trees-teach-us-at-christmas-a-christmas-reflection

The Christmas season is a time when we are close to trees.

This feels a bit paradoxical, however, because the reason that there may be a tree in our living rooms, whether the tree is natural or artificial, is that it had to be chopped down. And yet it's the time of the year when nature is close to us, because we’ve drawn near to this tree by bringing it inside our house. Not for shade. Not for lumber. But because this tree has become a spiritual symbol for us in the Christmas season of a saviour who dwelled and dwells with us.

This year, I’ve been thinking about those other trees that aren’t in our living rooms and have been chopped down for more utilitarian reasons. I’ve been thinking about how 90% of forest in the United States was chopped down between the 17th and 20th centuries–a loss we may never replace and may never ecologically and spiritually recover from.

Even though it’s the heart of winter, I’m thinking about the trees that provide shade in the summer, and the unshaded places longing for trees that have been chopped down. I’m thinking of concrete-lined neighborhoods where asthma rates are high and tree canopy is low and the nearest tree is indeed in the living room.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ~ Isaiah 11:1

The prophecy in Isaiah 11 illustrates a tree that has been chopped down, but despite this apparent destruction, life would one day begin to emerge.

A small shoot would come out of this lineage and legacy that is seemingly in shambles, and from these same roots, a branch would emerge, likely providing shade, as well as fruit.

In 2025, there has been a lot of destruction to bear witness and attend to.

Christmas is a reminder that God is familiar and particularly adept with bringing forth life and hope out of destruction.

And like our trees, paradoxically chopped down by our own hands, God brings forth hope through an embodied closeness to us, despite the ways we’ve collectively missed the mark.

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. ~ Romans 8:22

Christmas is a celebration of the birth of a baby who personified a young shoot emerging out of a felled tree.

Perhaps thousands of years before major deforestation would occur, Christ’s birth is about being a tree with us, God with us, a destroyed forest with us. Using our ecological imaginations, we might find Jesus in solidarity with the felled trees, each felled tree a symbol of His eventual crucifixion. And even more so we find Jesus in solidarity with the children born into unshaded neighborhoods–a shoot of hope growing out of areas with stumps.

The prophecy reminds us that liberation begins with small sprouts. Jesus did not incarnate as a 33-year-old. Likewise, our work for the liberation of God’s planet and people begins with small, hopeful actions. We can’t re-plant all that’s been lost in one day, but we can start by planting a tree. Or by seeding hope.

May the eternal story of new life emerging out of dead ends give us hope, strength, and resilience for the work ahead.

Kat Gonzales
Faithful Resilience Program Director
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[Blue Christmas: What the Blake Plateau teaches us about Advent]]>Tue, 09 Dec 2025 20:35:00 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/blue-christmas-what-the-blake-plateau-teaches-us-about-adventOff the coast of Georgia and South Carolina is an ecological treasure trove found in a region called the Blake Plateau. This extraordinary sacred ecosystem is home to the world's largest deep-sea coral reef habitat, where floating Sargassum seaweed meadows nurture colossal sperm whales, bluefin tuna, whale sharks, threatened loggerhead sea turtles, rare seabirds, and thousands of other species.

When we think of coral reefs and the life they hold, it’s natural and easy to imagine bright colors and sunlight weaving through the water. What is fascinating about the Blake Plateau is how life is formed in complete darkness. The reef-like structures in the Blake Plateau are mainly made up of a deep-sea coral named Lophelia, which is a ghostly white. The Lophelia coral “mounds” grow in complete darkness over tens of thousands of years, supporting a diverse community of wildlife, including close to 100 species of fish.

In addition to providing an important habitat for fish and marine life, the deepsea corals on the Blake Plateau consume organic matter that rains down from the ocean’s surface and recycle it into essential nutrients for the entire ecosystem. As the Gulf Stream rolls over the plateau, it pushes these nutrients back up to the surface, supporting the ocean’s wildlife. These nutrients ultimately sustain the region’s fisheries, and all of us who rely on them.

As the Blake Plateau reminds us of the beauty of the darkness, the Season of Advent invites us to sit with the darkness, creating space for quiet and centering. Like the deep sea coral offers life giving nutrients across the Ocean, Advent offers hope and reignites our imagination of healing and restoration for all of Creation. This Advent, may we embrace this Season of darkness to sustain our collective work together.

Madison Mayhew
Policy and Advocacy Manager
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[Celebrating World Fisheries Day: Honoring the Life of Our Oceans]]>Fri, 05 Dec 2025 17:23:06 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/celebrating-world-fisheries-day-honoring-the-life-of-our-oceans

World Fisheries Day is celebrated annually on November 21 and is designed to raise awareness about the importance of healthy aquatic ecosystems and the sustainable management of fisheries. Millions of people depend on healthy and sustainable marine ecosystems to provide food for their survival and livelihood. It is equally important that fish populations are protected from overfishing and allowed to thrive. As we celebrate the protection and thriving of fisheries, we can also give thanks and feel gratitude for this amazing planet and all the life that it supports.

As we recognize and feel the interconnectedness between people and all living things, such as the world’s fisheries, we expand the Body of Christ to encompass all of the natural world, not just humans. We see how each ecosystem, when it is working in balance, sustains life and supports neighboring ecosystems. It is humbling to slow down enough to think how amazing this planet is and how the Earth provides everything we need to survive and thrive. And not just for humanity but for all of life from the microscopic organisms to the Blue Whales. The Earth is truly amazing and life giving.

Harbor Christian Church has established a program called Living Coast Ministry (formerly Blue Theology) that focuses on the interconnection between the natural marine world and the divine. Our Living Coast Theologians enjoy a week-long summer residential program at Harbor Christian Church in Newport Beach, California. Harbor is located just across the street from the Upper Newport Back Bay. Being located in coastal Southern California gives us access to many wild places that most people never have the opportunity to experience. Living Coast Ministry at Harbor supports participants in visiting these natural wonders while helping to develop an ecological spirituality.

What do we mean by ecological spirituality? Throughout the week, each group enjoys hands-on experiences that deeply connect them to the surrounding ocean and shoreline ecology. Each evening participants are led in discussions, sacred experiences and activities that support them in crafting their unique ecological lens on spirituality. In other words, Living Coast Ministry brings together real world experience and the sacred, allowing participants to ask new questions of their faith and to open to more expansive experiences of the divine.

We love the opportunity to host youth groups and their chaperones from all over the country. To date we have hosted groups from Minnesota, Colorado, Maryland, Kentucky as well as local groups from Southern California. Our Living Coast Ministry team would love to hear from and potentially host you and your group.

Click here for more information on Living Coast Ministry in Newport Beach.

Ryan Cullumber
Associate Pastor
Harbor Christian Church

]]><![CDATA[The Holy Work Happening Underground: How Advent Teaches Us to Prepare in Stillness]]>Fri, 05 Dec 2025 16:12:04 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/the-holy-work-happening-underground-how-advent-teaches-us-to-prepare-in-stillness

Advent is a season that teaches us how to live in the tension between what is and what could be. It invites us into the quiet, expectant posture of creation itself: the way the earth grows still while life below the surface gathers strength for renewal.

In winter, the mycelial networks beneath the forest floor quietly expand. The earthworms move deeper into the soil, slowing their metabolism. The dormant seeds of wildflowers lie in wait, needing the cold to prepare them for growth. None of this looks dramatic. But it is holy work, the slow, faithful preparation that allows life to rise again.

This year, I’ve been holding close the truth that Advent offers: stillness does not mean stagnation. Waiting is not the absence of work. Hope is not naïve; it is preparatory.

Stillness does not mean stagnation. Waiting is not the absence of work. Hope is not naïve; it is preparatory.

And when I look at the movement for creation justice, I see that same holy, subterranean work happening all around us.

In a year when protections for God’s creation were rolled back and environmental harms intensified, our community did not retreat. Instead, it rooted itself.

Beneath the headlines, beneath the noise, something powerful has been stirring.

Here at Creation Justice Ministries, we have felt that stirring in so many ways:

In public witness, as Christians gathered in Washington, D.C., and across the country to pray, lament, and proclaim peace with God’s creation.
In pulpits and classrooms, where more than 250 faith leaders were trained through EcoPreacher and Creation Justice Coaches to preach hope and courage in a climate-changed world.
In congregations, where resources like Power of God and Truth, Healing, and Repair helped communities deepen their discipleship and root themselves in restorative practice.
In resilience work, where local churches in Baltimore, Austin, Orlando, and so many other places work toward planting trees, restoring ecosystems, and strengthening their capacity to care for one another.
In advocacy, as thousands of Christians spoke up to defend clean air, protect marine sanctuaries, and uphold the laws that safeguard God’s creation.

Season of Creation Public Witness (Washington, DC)

Christian Leaders for Creation Justice Retreat (June 2025)

Avery post preaching at New Hope Camp for Earth Sabbath

None of this makes the nightly news. But like the root systems beneath frozen soil, it is strengthening us for what is coming. It is preparing us to meet the world’s pain with the light of Christ, a light Advent promises is already on its way.

So I find myself asking this Advent:
What strength is God stirring in us now?
What quiet preparation is happening in our congregations, in our communities, in the corners of our own hearts?

My prayer is that we enter this season with the humility of creation, willing to rest, willing to listen, and willing to be renewed so that we can rise with hope into the year ahead.

Below you’ll find ways to take action this month. May each step be part of the strength we are stirring up together.
With the hope of peace on earth for all creation,

Avery Davis Lamb
Executive Director
Creation Justice Ministries

]]><![CDATA[Interior Department Proposes Plan to Wreck America’s Coasts with Offshore Drilling]]>Tue, 02 Dec 2025 12:26:02 GMThttps://www.creationjustice.org/blog/interior-department-proposes-plan-to-wreck-americas-coasts-with-offshore-drillingDraft proposal of five-year offshore plan opens nearly all U.S. waters to drilling

Press Release Date: November 20, 2025
Location: Washington, D.C.
Contact: Cory Gunkel, Megan Jordan | email: cgunkel@oceana.org, mjordan@oceana.org | tel: Cory Gunkel, 202.868.4061

Today, the Trump administration released a draft of its new offshore drilling plan for the next five years, which proposes opening the coast of California to oil and gas leasing. The plan also opens a portion of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and vast areas off Alaska, to offshore leasing.

The plan proposes six offshore lease sales in California between 2027 and 2030. There have been no new leases issued in federal waters off California since the mid-1980s. The leasing proposal would also allow offshore drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, including Florida, outside of a 100-mile “buffer.” The Arctic Ocean would also see lease sales in the draft plan. Almost a decade ago, oil companies abandoned leases they owned in the Arctic Ocean following a series of mishaps, fines, government investigations, and, most famously, the grounding of the drill rig Kulluk.

The National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, also known as the Five-Year Plan, determines where the federal government will sell leases for offshore drilling from 2026-2031. The proposed draft plan would allow drilling across more than 1 billion acres of U.S. federal waters, including protected areas.

Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon released the following statement condemning the new proposal:

“This draft plan is an oil spill nightmare! The last thing America needs now is a massive expansion of offshore drilling that could shut down our shores with catastrophic oil spills. Our coastal communities, and their multi-billion-dollar economies, rely on healthy oceans to survive. The Atlantic Coast will thankfully be spared, but this dangerous proposal to still sell off millions of acres of our oceans is a betrayal of the bipartisan voices — including U.S. lawmakers, business leaders, and the people who live along these coasts — who oppose more offshore drilling. Congress, and coastal state leaders, must stand together to defend all of our coasts and demand that the Trump administration go back to the drawing board to take their states out of the final plan. Our coastlines must be safeguarded, not given away to oil and gas interests.”

The introduction of this new draft opens a 60-day comment period in which the public can voice its concerns. After this comment period is complete, the Trump administration will issue a proposed program, with an additional 90-day comment period. Following that 90-day comment period, the administration will release the Proposed Final Program that will be sent to Congress for at least 60 days for consideration prior to finalizing the Five-Year Plan.

The process began with a Request For Information (RFI) on April 30 that started a 45-day comment period to allow stakeholders to provide input on offshore oil and gas drilling. The period closed with more than 85,000 comments, most of which opposed expanded lease sales.

A poll released by Oceana in July 2024 revealed that two-thirds of American voters (64%) support their elected officials protecting U.S. coastlines from new offshore drilling, with similar support among registered voters in coastal states (66%).

“We cannot allow for offshore oil and gas expansion on the West Coast. Coastal property owners, businesses, their communities and visitors were severely harmed by California’s 2015 and 2021 offshore oil spills,” said Grant Bixby, Principal Broker, Bixby Residential Group, and founding member of the Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast (@BAPPC), which represents over 8,100 West Coast business members. “Our own clients who operate vacation rentals received cancellations for months, and those visitors were lost to hundreds of other local businesses up and down the coast. Our harbors and beaches were completely shut down. Any offshore drilling is not worth the economic and environmental risk to our state which relies on a clean coast with open beaches, harbors, and wetlands.”

“News that the Trump Administration’s Five-Year Plan dramatically expands drilling in the Gulf is a breach of the public’s right to clean and healthy waters,” said Martha Collins, Executive Director for Healthy Gulf. “The Gulf is already a sacrifice zone of air and water pollution and abandoned oil wells, and new drilling will be even more dangerous as the industry expands into deeper and riskier waters. The opening of the eastern Gulf to drilling directly contradicts Trump’s previous moratoriums keeping Florida waters off the table. Opening up waters from the high arctic to the Gulf will not move our country forward to a clean energy future and energy independence this administration so craves.”

“This plan is a dangerous gift to the oil and gas industry at the expense of our planet and shared future,” said Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, Azul Founder and Executive Director. “This administration wants to open vast new areas of the West Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and Alaska to drilling – gutting environmental safeguards and endangering communities in the process. Latino voters across the country, and across party lines, overwhelmingly reject more offshore drilling, as seen in our 2024 National Azul Poll. Our communities have lived the consequences of oil spills and pollution, and they are calling on our leaders to move us beyond fossil fuels.”

“When we consider the earth as God’s beloved Creation and our neighbor as deeply connected to the land, air, and water we share, we must question decisions which appear to favor short-term gain over long-term flourishing,” said Avery Davis Lamb, Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries. “The proposed expansion of offshore drilling in our nation’s waters not only threatens precious marine ecosystems, but also threatens the livelihoods of our neighbors who will be more exposed to toxic pollution. This announcement fails to provide the vision and justice our times demand. We strongly oppose this proposal and call for a transformative way forward — one that honors Creation, protects the vulnerable, and sets a course toward renewed life.”

“The Business Alliance for Protecting the Atlantic Coast lauds the exclusion of East Coast planning areas from the Draft Proposed Program, but we are disappointed to see what is still a serious expansion of oil and gas infrastructure in American waters. No coastal community deserves dirty oil drilling off their shores and the inevitable spills it will bring,” said Sandra Bundy, President of the Business Alliance for Protecting the Atlantic Coast. “Coastal economies across the country will be impacted for decades into the future if this plan is finalized and we continue to see the results of reliance on fossil fuels at a time when we know we can and should do better.”

“The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce wants to thank all our state’s elected officials for their public opposition to drilling for oil in the Atlantic,” said Frank Knapp, President and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. “Not only were their voices important at the beginning of this planning process, but they were extremely critical after the news several weeks ago that the Atlantic would be included in the drilling plan. Appreciation is well-deserved for the advocacy of Governor McMaster and our Congressional delegation led by Senator Graham.”

Over the past decade, hundreds of municipalities, 60,000 businesses, and 500,000 fishing families — as well as thousands of elected officials from both parties — have opposed offshore drilling activities off their waters.

There are significant risks with offshore drilling today, and oil spills continue to be an ongoing problem. More than 7,300 oil spills occurred in federal waters between 2010 and 2022 — an average of more than one spill every day. Offshore oil and gas drilling causes harmful pollution at every phase of the process, including exploration, production, and transportation.

A 2021 analysis by Oceana found that ending new leasing could prevent more than $720 billion in damage to people, property, and the environment. The oil industry currently holds more than 2,000 leases, according to a 2023 Oceana report, with 75% of that ocean acreage unused.

For more information about Oceana’s campaign to prevent the expansion of offshore drilling in the United States, please click here.]]>