The Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Bill (HR 139) has been
introduced again this session – and already we have many Champs to thank! This
bill has the same language and bill number as last session, and will provide
permanent Wilderness protection for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge.
Please send a short note to your Representative (if in this
group) to thank them for once again co-sponsoring permanent protection for the
Refuge: MN – Congresswoman McCollum (MN-04), Congressman Ellison (MN-05),
Congressman Nolan (MN-08)IA – Congressman Braley (IA-01), Congressman
Loebsack (IA-02)
King and Latham – still need to hear from us! –
contact them and ask them to please co-sponsor this important
legislation.
Arctic Refuge Comprehensive
Conservation Plan
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced
earlier this year that he would be stepping down and returning home to
Colorado. The Arctic Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) was not
finalized before he left, so along with our partners, Alaska Wilderness League
will continue to contact the new Secretary, Sally Jewell, to ask her to finalize
this important plan for our nation’s wilderness icon.
Recently 13 CEOs of
conservation groups, including: Alaska Wilderness League, National Audubon
Society, Defenders of Wildlife, Environment America, Friends of the Earth,
Greenpeace, League of Conservation Voters, Native American Rights Fund, Natural
Resources Defense Council, Ocean Conservancy, Physicians for Social
Responsibility, Sierra Club and The Wilderness
Society sent a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell moments after
she was sworn into office to encourage her to finalize the overdue Comprehensive
Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as one of her
first acts in office.After more than three years of work by the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service in Alaska and Washington, DC, a CCP for the Arctic Refuge is
nearly complete, and signers to the letter urged Jewell to get it over the
finish line.
On Wednesday, April 17, Alaska Wilderness League activists from across the country alongside a menagerie of Arctic animal mascots welcomed Interior Secretary Jewell to Washington, DC. They delivered the letter in person along with comments from 125,000 people that urged her predecessor to get the job done.
3. Continuing to
work to keep the Arctic Oceans free of development
Alaska
Wilderness League along with the groups listed below have been mobilizing and
organizing activists online and offline to add their names to the push to
protect the Arctic Ocean from Shell and other Big Oil companies – and the
momentum is working, as Shell has already cancelled plans to drill this year
after 12 months of errors, mishaps, and near-disasters, and Conoco Phillips has
cancelled plans to begin to pursue Arctic drilling.An oil spill in the
Arctic Ocean could devastate human and wildlife communities alike.
President Obama cannot allow drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Shell’s long
list of setbacks and failures – coupled with the extreme risk for oil spills and
further climate destruction in an already fragile ecosystem – provides
overwhelming evidence that the oil and gas industry is not prepared to operate
safely in the Arctic Ocean. President Obama should prioritize protecting the
Arctic as part of his climate legacy and not approve any further offshore
drilling in the region.
Alaska Wilderness League has called
on President Obama to begin his climate legacy by saying no to Arctic Ocean
drilling. You can add your name to our petition here: http://act.alaskawild.org/sign/Climate_Legacy/
The Coalition Released the
Following Statement:
“For hundreds of thousands of Americans, seeing
Shell’s drilling rig run aground in the harsh Arctic weather last December was
the last straw. The outpouring of action since then is a loud and clear signal
that President Obama should suspend all risky and dangerous drilling activities
in the Arctic Ocean.
In one year, one of Shell’s ships caught fire, rigs lost
control, ran aground, and became the subject of criminal investigations, proving
time and time again companies are not prepared for the Arctic. On March 14,
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar admitted that ‘Shell screwed up’ and announced it
would not be allowed back into the Arctic without major changes. The nearly 2
million Americans who have spoken up recognize that if the largest and
wealthiest company in the world cannot figure out how to drill safely in the
Arctic, all of this risky and dangerous drilling should be put on hold
immediately.
Now, it’s time the Obama administration recognizes the same
thing and reflects it in policy. The administration should not make any new
decisions until it has completed a more thorough review of all drilling
operations in the Arctic, implemented the most rigorous standards and determined
whether and under what conditions to allow offshore drilling. As nominee for
Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell should prioritize these challenges, and
make sure that the Interior Department does not make the same mistakes again,
acting immediately to put a pause in the Arctic until this in-depth review is
complete.
The threat to America’s Arctic from
drilling doesn't just stop at spills and disasters, and the
destruction of one of our most pristine places. Dredging up more dirty fuels and
then burning them into our atmosphere is a one-two punch for America’s Arctic,
destroying one of our most pristine places and making the climate crisis that is
melting the region even worse. The administration can’t build a climate
change legacy while drilling in the Arctic Ocean.
In one year, Shell proved
beyond a doubt that no Big Oil company is prepared to drill in the Arctic and
the potential threats this destructive practice would pose are numerous. But, if
the Obama administration needed another reason to rethink the United States’
Arctic Ocean drilling program, they now have nearly 2 million more of
them.”
The coalition is made up of the following
organizations: Sierra Club – Alaska Wilderness League – Center
for Biological Diversity – Friends of the Earth – Greenpeace – Earthjustice –
National Audubon Society – Natural Resources Defense Council – The Wilderness
Society – League of Conservation Voters – CREDO