Obama cancels drilling lease off coast of Virginia

Earlier this morning the President canceled the proposed drilling lease off the coast of Virginia. Here's what the Director of the Virginia Sierra Club had to say about the announcement.

“The economic and environmental disaster that is currently unfolding on the Gulf Coast underscores the inherent and unavoidable risks that would come with drilling off Virginia’s coast – risks that have been well known for many years. It’s unfortunate that it took a disaster such as this to finally bring to light just how mistaken it would be to drill off Virginia’s coast.”

Any spill that would have potentially occurred off Virginia's coast would have had a devastating effect up and down the eastern seaboard. As you can see from the map of the lease area, North Carolina's outer banks could potentially bear the brunt of an oil spill off Virginia's coast.

While we're pleased with the President's decision to cancel the lease,we also realize that there is much work to be done. The Sierra Club is committed to enacting a total moratorium on all new off-shore drilling projects. More importantly, this is an opportune time for the President to set in motion a plan that will get us off oil over the next 20 years. We already have clean energy solutions, now we need the political will to implement them.