President Obama has done a decent job of protecting our oceans. He has restricted offshore drilling in the vast majority of the Arctic, including a temporary moratorium for two years. And in March, he cancelled plans to open the Atlantic to oil and gas drilling.

If we are going to save our planet, we need to save our oceans. Drilling for oil and gas along the Arctic and Atlantic coasts is completely incompatible with Obama’s stated goals to combat climate change.

But Obama has opened up three new leases on Arctic oil reserves and could be considering more. And seismic airgun blasting, used to find oil and gas reserves, is still legal up and down our coasts.

Seismic airguns are so loud that they can disturb, injure and even kill marine life. They harm commercial fisheries and disrupt coastal economies. These blasts are repeated every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, for days to weeks at a time. But since Atlantic drilling is off the table, there’s no point to subject our marine ecosystems to such torture.

It doesn't even make economic sense. With the price of oil so low, oil companies aren’t even seriously pursuing the expensive and complicated process of offshore drilling in the unforgiving Arctic seas -- even with the new leases. 

It should go without saying that new, large-scale extractive infrastructure is a terrible idea given the monumental challenge of climate change -- but an oil spill in these unique, incredibly sensitive ecosystems is completely unthinkable.

President Obama, please keep our oceans safe. Say no to offshore drilling and seismic airguns.