Exceptions have since been granted to various states, but the proposal still presents a danger. am70/Shutterstock

The move to open pretty much the entirety of America’s coastline to offshore oil drilling, announced back in January by the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Ryan Zinke, came as a deeply disappointing shock to conservationists, zoologists, marine ecologists, fisheries, lawmakers, and more. A new report has suggested that if the plans were to go ahead, 68 coastal National Park sites would be at risk.

The report, composed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) – an environmental advocacy group – and the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), makes for a melancholy read. Reminding us all that these National Parks are home to a plethora of biodiverse ecologies, it outlines state by state what’s at stake here, citing studies and federal data throughout.

Alaska’s coastal parks, for example, are home to a wide number of threatened and endangered species, like the humpback whale and the Steller sea lion. The state’s Glacier Bay National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to stunning glaciers and diverse wildlife. Over in California, you’ve got an enormous list of remarkable birds, reptiles, fish, mammals and amphibians living within these National Parks.

The report also notes that the states that Zinke wishes to drill in generated at least $5.7 billion to the GDP in 2017 through recreation and tourism alone. In the same year, these states supported National Park-related 59,517 jobs – more than currently exists in the entire US coal industry.

An example of the National Park or Monument sites threatened in Alaska, should the proposal be entirely approved. NRDC & NPCA

The report stresses that although these National Parks “have earned some of the strongest legal protections afforded to public lands, the administration’s proposal puts our nation’s treasures at risk.” At the same time, it must be highlighted that the Trump administration is also hoping to rollback Obama-era oil rig safety regulations in the Gulf – those put in place after the infamous Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010.