Conservationists, including your truly, spent the eight years of the Regime fighting its assault on the environment. We saw the Obamanon as a welcome relief from the constant struggle to maintain the existing legal framework protecting wildlife and wild places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We are now sadly disabused of that notion. Forty-four has approved Shell Oil Company to begin exploratory drilling off the coast of the Refuge. A spill offshore will be just as destructive to living things as one on the tundra. Government officials admit that an oil spill is inevitable if full-scale production ever begins off the coast. The Refuge is the main location for Alaskan polar bears to make their birthing dens. It is the home of whales, seals, walruses and caribou to name a few of the larger inhabitants. The industry has no method for cleaning up crude oil in ice cold water. If a bear's fur is covered with oil when swimming in the spill, the bear loses vital insulation and dies. If the bear consumes oil by licking its fur or eating contaminated meat, the toxins in the oil kill the bear. Cubs are especially vulnerable to toxins. A spill would also kill thousands of sea birds, seals, fish and whales. It would be an unmitigated ecological disaster that would last for generations. Shell Oil's plans must be defeated by taking them to court and enforcing the existing environmental rules protecting priceless natural heritage such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Help NRDC fight the good fight when our politicians prove inadequate.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Forty-four & the Status Quo II
Conservationists, including your truly, spent the eight years of the Regime fighting its assault on the environment. We saw the Obamanon as a welcome relief from the constant struggle to maintain the existing legal framework protecting wildlife and wild places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. We are now sadly disabused of that notion. Forty-four has approved Shell Oil Company to begin exploratory drilling off the coast of the Refuge. A spill offshore will be just as destructive to living things as one on the tundra. Government officials admit that an oil spill is inevitable if full-scale production ever begins off the coast. The Refuge is the main location for Alaskan polar bears to make their birthing dens. It is the home of whales, seals, walruses and caribou to name a few of the larger inhabitants. The industry has no method for cleaning up crude oil in ice cold water. If a bear's fur is covered with oil when swimming in the spill, the bear loses vital insulation and dies. If the bear consumes oil by licking its fur or eating contaminated meat, the toxins in the oil kill the bear. Cubs are especially vulnerable to toxins. A spill would also kill thousands of sea birds, seals, fish and whales. It would be an unmitigated ecological disaster that would last for generations. Shell Oil's plans must be defeated by taking them to court and enforcing the existing environmental rules protecting priceless natural heritage such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Help NRDC fight the good fight when our politicians prove inadequate.