WE, your Memorialists, the Members of the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Maine now assembled in the Second Regular Session, most respectfully present and petition the President of the United States and the United States Congress as follows:

WHEREAS,  the United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management 2019-2024 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Proposed Program has already been released and the programmatic environmental impact statement could be released as early as May 2018; and

WHEREAS,  over 46,319 jobs and more than $2,300,000,000 of the State's gross domestic product depend on clean, oil-free water and beaches and abundant fish and wildlife; and

WHEREAS,  over 65% of the State's ocean-derived income stems from our tourism and recreation sector, contributing over $1,200,000,000 to the State's economy, and this economic sector benefits from and depends upon a healthy ocean and coast; and

WHEREAS,  offshore oil and gas drilling and exploration activities place coastal communities at economic and ecological risk from oil spills and the pollution brought by routine drilling operations and onshore industrialization, threatening the quality of life and livelihoods of the State's citizens and important industries, such as tourism and recreation and commercial and recreational fishing, and small businesses that rely on a clean and healthy ocean and beaches; and

WHEREAS,  the State recognizes that our communities and industries depend on a healthy coastal environment for the benefit of current and future residents, property owners and visitors; now, therefore, be it