Skip to content Skip to footer

Drive to Drill: A Timeline of the Push for and Against Atlantic Oil and Gas Development

The timeline highlights key events from the oil crisis of the 1970s to communities taking a stance, today.

The Obama administration is currently weighing public comments on a draft offshore oil and gas leasing proposal that for the first time in history would open an area of the Atlantic 50 miles off the East Coast from Virginia to Georgia to drilling.

As a Facing South investigation detailed, the Atlantic drilling plan is being promoted by an alliance of coastal state governors working closely with oil and gas industry lobbyists under the leadership of North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R). It’s opposed by a growing grassroots movement that includes environmentalists, business groups, coastal residents and elected officials.

The following timeline highlights key events in the decades-long push for and against Atlantic drilling, from the oil crisis of the 1970s that sparked calls for expanded domestic drilling to the explosion in the number of East Coast communities taking formal stances against the current Atlantic drilling proposal.

We’re not going to stand for it. Are you?

You don’t bury your head in the sand. You know as well as we do what we’re facing as a country, as a people, and as a global community. Here at Truthout, we’re gearing up to meet these threats head on, but we need your support to do it: We must raise $16,000 before midnight to ensure we can keep publishing independent journalism that doesn’t shy away from difficult — and often dangerous — topics.

We can do this vital work because unlike most media, our journalism is free from government or corporate influence and censorship. But this is only sustainable if we have your support. If you like what you’re reading or just value what we do, will you take a few seconds to contribute to our work?