Alaska is the focus of this lawsuit. Photo: Scott Dickerson
Surfrider Foundation has joined a coalition of environmental groups suing the Trump Administration over its plans to roll back protections against offshore oil drilling. The lawsuit, filed in Alaska by the non-profit law firm Earthjustice, claims that President Trump’s executive order is unlawful.
“Not on our watch,” said Surfrider Foundation CEO Chad Nelsen. “As predicted and called for in Project 2025, Trump violated the law when he ignored the permanent ban on offshore drilling and called to open our coasts to new offshore oil drilling.”
The executive order in question issued by President Trump is titled “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions.” It calls to revoke dozens of executive actions from the Biden Administration, including protections from developing oil and gas drilling in the Eastern Gulf, Atlantic, Pacific, and Alaskan seas. The lawsuit claims that the Department of the Interior has already taken steps to carry out the executive order.
The lawsuit highlights legal precedent from 2019 when a federal court blocked Trump from similarly attempting to remove Obama-era protections off the Arctic and Atlantic coasts, stating that it is against the law for a president to repeal such protections implemented by prior administrations.
“Offshore drilling is a dirty and damaging practice that is a direct threat to our thriving ocean recreation economy,” said Nelsen. “Offshore drilling is opposed by a majority of Americans who want to protect our nation’s coasts from oil and gas development. The Surfrider Foundation is pleased to join partners in challenging President Trump’s illegal order to revoke critical protections for U.S. waters.”
The other environmental groups included in the lawsuit are Oceana, Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, Healthy Gulf, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Alaska Wilderness League, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. The lawsuit states that these groups seek “declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent injury to the interests of their members that are threatened by the President’s action.”
The White House didn’t respond to the New York Times’ request for comment on the matter.
