Plea from Louisiana: Take Action Against Big Oil.

The massive flooding that has inflicted catastrophic loss and displacements throughout Louisiana this week are a wake-up call that we have precious little time left to turn the tide of dangerous climate change. Rural communities across the Bayou State are experiencing historic floods that have killed over a dozen people and displaced tens of thousands. They need our help.

Yet, before the flood waters have even receded, the Obama Administration is set to sell off even more of our publically owned Gulf waters to the oil industry—opening the door to more climate disrupting carbon pollution.  

My colleague and friend, Cherri Foytlin, penned the letter below, describing the situation on the ground and requesting support from all who can help. Please take a minute to read it and take action now to stand with the people of Louisiana.

This week, central and southwestern Louisiana have been slammed by unprecedented floods. Over the weekend, I watched heavy rains pour down on my community and my own home sink into rising waters.

Across the region, tens of thousands of people have been evacuated, thousands of homes damaged, and at least eleven people killed. This fills my heart with both a deep sadness and deep anger—at the fossil fuel companies driving this ongoing crisis, and at an Administration that continues to sell them the right to do so.

Next Wednesday, on August 24th, the Obama administration is planning to sell off an area the size of Virginia for offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

In the face of this climate emergency, we’re calling on President Obama to cancel the upcoming fossil fuel auction here in the Gulf.

We need to keep fossil fuels in the ground and stop treating the Gulf Coast like a sacrifice zone.

Offshore drilling endangers both the people of the Gulf and the climate we depend on. In the midst of this climate-driven disaster, moving forward with this auction is unconscionable. Doing it at the New Orleans Superdome—the site of one of the most visible and tragic instances of climate injustice in recent history—is nothing short of insulting.

We’ve been organizing and resisting for decades here on the Gulf Coast, but right now, we need to come together as a movement and support both the organizing and the relief efforts that are underway on the ground. Like all climate crises, this flood will most gravely impact the already marginalized in our society—poor people, people of color, the elderly. You can make a donation to support disaster relief and recovery here.

This climate event is being called a “1,000 year flood” and a “truly historic event,” and according to the Red Cross, it’s the worst U.S. disaster since Superstorm Sandy. This type of storm is far from normal—but it could become normal if we don’t act now. This auction would enable the fossil fuel industry to do more of the very thing that is intensifying these floods in the first place.

Allowing next week’s fossil fuel auction to move forward is rubbing salt in the wounds of a region already in a state of emergency. Sign today and demand that President Obama call it off.

No more business as usual. My beloved Gulf coast is not for sale.

- Cherri Foytlin, Director, Bold Louisiana

Sign the petition and join NRDC, local Gulf Coast residents, and other campaigners, in an urgent request to the Obama administration that it cancel its August 24th offshore drilling auction for the Gulf of Mexico.