Humans have extracted trillions of tons of fossil fuels by drilling for crude oil under the ocean floor and mining coal and fossil gas. However, there are still large amounts of these materials left under the Earth’s surface. Extracting and burning it will continue to drive the climate emergency. Preventing companies from doing this, through drilling and mining bans, will keep fossil fuels safely in the ground.

As well as directly stopping greenhouse gas emissions from being released, bans would also force companies and governments to invest more in clean energy sources such as renewables and storage. It would also stop the ecological devastation caused by drilling and mining - including ecosystem disruption and the potential for catastrophic accidents such as oil spills related to deepwater oil drilling.

Bans usually need to be created by governments, who are often in charge of environmental licenses and permitting. International agreements can also be a useful way for multiple countries to undertake bans and avoid local pushback. Efforts by governments, in collaboration with unions, are essential to ensure drilling and mining workers can be retrained and deployed to new, green jobs.

Fossil fuel and mining lobbyists may campaign against bans, and often have powerful connections and influence that is hard to tackle. Similarly, bans will be unpopular among workers if alternative employment opportunities and protections aren’t in place. Bans should also be accompanied by affirmative action to invest in alternative clean energy systems and new technologies to help energy demand and behaviors transition to alternative systems.

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• Greenland’s government bans oil drilling, leads indigenous resistance to extractive capitalism (Open Democracy)

• The Case Against Deep-Sea Mining (Time)

• Biden Administration Bans Drilling Around Native American Cultural Site (New York Times)

• Support laws and lawmakers who favor drilling and mining bans.

• Contact your local representatives to encourage them to initiate and support bans.

• Attend protests against mining and drilling activities in your community.