Support a clean energy future and pass the NOW Act!

Decision Makers

Clean energy is one of the most effective ways we can combat the climate crisis we face. But progress toward a clean energy future has a big hurdle. Big Oil, and its supporters in Congress, created a legal loophole that forces clean wind energy to be paired with dirty offshore drilling. Under current legislation, if the government wants to move forward with new offshore wind leases, there must be an offshore drilling lease sold within the previous 365 days.

That’s right. For clean wind leasing, the law requires a drilling lease to have already happened.

We all know that drilling leads to spilling. It destroys our coastal communities, economies, and oceans. Clean energy should not be tied to drilling for more fossil fuels. Thankfully, there is a solution that would end this cycle.

But we need your voice.

A bill currently in Congress would cut the tie between offshore wind and oil. We just need our senators and representatives to pass it. Make your voice heard and be a part of the solution to save our communities, coastlines, and wildlife from irreversible harm.

Tell your senators and representatives to pass the NOW Act. Our clean energy future should not be drowned out by oil.



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To: Decision Makers
From: [Your Name]

Dear Decision Makers,

I am writing to urge you to co-sponsor and support the Nonrestrictive Offshore Wind (NOW) Act to cut the tie between wind and oil. I also ask that you oppose any attempts by Congress to mandate the expansion of offshore drilling.

Within the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — the greatest piece of climate legislation in American history — there was a last-minute provision added that binds the expansion of offshore wind leasing to future oil and gas leasing. Today, the President can’t expand urgently needed offshore wind to address the climate crisis without being required to add even more destructive drilling that makes it worse. This 10-year provision requires a minimum oil and gas lease sale of 60 million acres in federal waters, an area greater than the land coverage of 42 of 50 U.S. states, in the previous 365 days before an offshore wind lease sale can occur. This has created an unnecessary detour and undermines the urgent need to transition to a vital clean energy future.

It has been 14 years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Another such disaster would devastate coastal economies, which are fueled by tourism, recreation, and fishing. As you read this, oil and gas production continues to drive the climate crisis, and the science is definitive that we need to halt emissions for ourselves and future generations. The abnormal weather experienced over the last year is but a glimpse into a future that plainly proves offshore drilling should not be expanded. The oil and gas industry is hoarding leases for 8 million unused acres of ocean out of their total footprint of 11 million acres while demanding even more. All this as the U.S. produces more oil and gas than at any other time in history.

We are heading in the wrong direction and it’s time to turn the tide. If we are to meet the challenges of the climate crisis, responsibly sited clean renewable energy development must be able to advance swiftly and independently. The NOW Act is the best way forward. I urge you to co-sponsor the NOW Act (H.R. 4936 and S.3026) to unshackle offshore wind lease sales from mandated offshore oil and gas leasing. I also ask that you stay vigilant and defend against any measures to expand offshore drilling through the remainder of this Congress and beyond.