Washington, D.C., November 20, 2025— The Department of the Interior released the Trump administration's draft 2027-2032 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which proposes opening vast swaths of previously protected federal waters, including along the California coast, all of Alaska’s offshore waters, and the eastern Gulf of Mexico to offshore oil and gas development.

ACP CEOs signed the following statement opposing the plan:

As the nation’s leading aquariums and zoos, we are committed to our nation’s ocean and freshwater heritage of clean and healthy waters and urge you not to open areas of U.S. offshore waters to new oil and gas exploration and drilling as proposed in the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Program Draft. As nonpartisan, science-based institutions we are extremely concerned that this proposed plan specifically targets states and coastlines where our facilities manage and maintain frontline work that ranges from animal stranding and rescue, disaster readiness and response, and coastline restoration and resilience. We implore the administration to pause this planning process and engage our organizations to help inform a 5-year plan that better reflects coastal community needs.

Many of our aquariums and zoos are located in coastal states and serve as economic anchors, and we understand that a healthy ocean and coastal environments are crucial for tourism and recreation, attracting millions of visitors, bringing in billions of dollars per year, and supporting over a million jobs. For coastal communities, safeguarding well-being and tourism-based economies requires a holistic approach that protects natural habitats and wildlife. Healthy marine and coastal ecosystems, such as salt marshes and coral reefs, provide essential services like storm protection, water filtration, and fishery habitats. We have a vested interest in ensuring the best safeguards possible are in place to protect the well-being of our coastal communities, as well as the wildlife and habitats on which our tourism-based economies depend.

Expanded oil and gas exploration and drilling poses an unnecessary and unacceptable risk to our coastal communities and our nation’s blue economy while exposing large amounts of the United States, where over 40 percent of our population lives and works to these risks. The impact of the oil disasters in the Gulf region is still decades away from a complete recovery from the  BP/Deepwater Horizon blowout that discharged over 200 million gallons of oil. This spill alone covered over 1,000 miles of shoreline and continues to have grievous effects on seabirds, sea turtles, corals, tuna, and dolphins, as well as thousands of coastal residents and ocean-dependent businesses.  

We have seen firsthand the devastating effects offshore drilling has on the health and safety of coastal communities. From toxic air pollution to contaminated water and wildlife to fueling extreme weather events, offshore drilling poses unnecessary and unacceptable risks. As aquariums and zoos we serve as places to understand and protect living treasures, including endangered species like the North Atlantic right whale, southern resident Orcas, Kemp’s ridley’s sea turtle and our beautiful coral reefs, and we aim to inspire a sense of responsibility and action to protect marine environments. We urge you to do more to include the voices of those most impacted, including coastal residents and businesses like ours, in the development of this Draft Proposed Program.  

We, the undersigned, urge you not to open offshore areas to new oil and gas drilling. Thank you for taking our comments into consideration.

Bridget Coughlin
President and CEO
Shedd Aquarium

Jennifer Driban
Chief Mission Officer and Acting CEO
National Aquarium

Kevin Mills
President and CEO
South Carolina Aquarium

Julie Packard
Executive Director
Monterey Bay Aquarium

Sean Putney
Executive Director and CEO
Kansas City Zoo and Aquarium

Peggy Sloan
CEO
Seattle Aquarium

Kurt Strand
President and CEO
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium

Jason Patlis
President & CEO
Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk

Susette Tibus
President and CEO
Mystic Aquarium

Alan Varsik
Director
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium

CEO Quotes

“Working together to oppose a proposed plan that includes leases off California is one of the most important steps that can be taken to protect our ocean and our coastal communities. We have learned devastating lessons from the impacts of offshore oil development off California, in the Gulf, and elsewhere. We know that the foundation of thriving coastal communities and their economies is a healthy, vibrant ocean. We hope Californians and all Americans can act together, once again, to ensure a future free of the threat of offshore drilling.”

• Julie Packard, Executive Director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium

"South Carolina's citizens and leaders are already on record in our collective opposition to offshore drilling that could compromise our state's fragile ecosystems and quality of life." 

• Kevin Mills, South Carolina Aquarium President and CEO

“Offshore drilling decisions reverberate far beyond the policy table; they are a direct threat to the coastal communities and economies that depend on a thriving ocean. New oil and gas leasing would put nearly 40% of coastal Americans at risk. These regions generate more than $400 billion each year through tourism, recreation, fisheries, and shipping industries. All of that relies on one thing: a healthy, living ocean. Our coasts are home to the unmistakable calls of beluga whales, the playfulness of sea otters and the intricate architecture of coral cities. They nourish us, protect us from storms, clean our waters, store carbon and anchor both our livelihoods and our sense of wonder. Opening new offshore waters to drilling would sacrifice the health of our coasts, undermine rather than strengthen our economy and drag us backward to an era before science gave us cleaner, safer alternatives.” 

• Dr. Bridget Coughlin, President & CEO, Shedd Aquarium