Media Contact:
Rebekah Staub, Earthworks, rstaub@earthworks.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 25 community and conservation organizations sent a letter today urging the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee to reject Brent Sadler’s nomination as Maritime Administrator. As the climate crisis intensifies, the position has the authority to block offshore oil and gas export infrastructure that would worsen environmental harm, increase fossil fuel reliance, and hinder the transition to clean energy.
In the letter, the groups said Sadler’s authorship of Project 2025 and his enthusiasm for welcoming a president who prioritizes the interests of the fossil fuel industry over the American people make them believe Sadler would prioritize industry favors over public safety and health as maritime administrator.
“Granting authority over offshore oil and gas export infrastructure to individuals who could prioritize fossil fuel expansion over public health and safety is a dangerous step backward in progress made towards clean air and water for all,” said Kelsey Crane, senior policy advocate at Earthworks. “We need leadership at the Maritime Administration that is aligned with the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and accelerate the transition to renewable energy, not oil and LNG expansion.”
None of the deepwater port applications the Maritime Administration is overseeing has secured the financial backing to proceed with the buildout, and other oil and gas projects are facing similar challenges in securing buyers and becoming financially viable.
“By approving deepwater port applications, the government has given commercial fishermen as well as innocent men, women, and children along the Gulf Coast a death sentence that we do not deserve,” said Travis Dardar, an Indigenous shrimper and founder of Fishermen Involved in Saving Our Heritage (FISH). “It is very obvious to me that the laws that govern the USA only apply to certain people. The bloodstains of these innocent people could end up on Brent Sadler’s hands, and I pray that God has mercy on his soul even though the Maritime Administration has had no mercy on us.”
United States oil and gas production is already at a record high, and global demand for fossil fuels is expected to peak in the next five years.
“Brent Sadler is another Trump nominee focused on the corporate takeover of our government at the expense of the health and safety of everyday people,” said Drew Guillory, policy advocate at Food and Water Watch. “An author of the destructive Project 2025 plan, Sadler will bend to the whims of the polluting fossil fuel industry, sacrificing the wellbeing of countless communities in the process. The Commerce Committee must stand up for the people it represents and resist the appointment of another corporate puppet.”
“If allowed to become Maritime Administrator, Brent Sadler will almost certainly rubber-stamp new deepwater ports that ship oil and gas overseas – approvals that will come at the expense of working people, especially those in the Gulf South. They’re the ones who suffer from health conditions due to polluted air and water, and the floods and hurricanes that grow more devastating every year as a result of fossil fuels,” said Allie Rosenbluth, U.S. Campaign Manager at Oil Change International. “The U.S. is already the top exporter of oil and gas, and leads the world in plans to expand fossil fuel production. Our climate and communities can’t afford the ramp-up of fossil fuel exports that Sadler has planned. Working families deserve leaders who prioritize them over the profits of the fossil fuel industry. Sadler’s already shown that he’s on the side of oil and gas.”
