Help Turn Back the Rush to Drill the Arctic and our Coasts!

February 10, 2010 Subject: Dear Secretary Salazar Thank you for extending public review of the ill-advised five-year plan for oil and gas development off our nation's coasts for 2010-2015. This plan was developed during the closing days of the scandal-plagued Bush-era Minerals Management Service and represents an aggressive attempt to sell off sensitive public resources. The plan poses irreversible impacts to ocean ecosystems, coastal economies, and Alaska Native communities that are already grappling with the profound consequences of climate change. I urge you to take immediate action to protect our coastlines and the communities that depend upon them. I ask you to direct the Minerals Management Service to remove California and Alaska waters from this plan and halt all current activities in the Arctic Ocean and Bristol Bay while the Obama Administration develops both a comprehensive ocean policy and a comprehensive research and management plan for the Arctic Ocean. These plans should recognize the threats that climate change already poses to this sensitive ecosystem and respect the traditional homelands of Alaska Native peoples who have subsisted upon these living marine resources for millennia. The Bush Administration’s hasty plans to zone the Arctic for oil drilling are irresponsible for many reasons: there is no comprehensive management plan to protect the rapidly melting Arctic, no technology exists to clean up oil spills, search and rescue capabilities are nonexistent, there is no comprehensive energy plan for the nation, it accelerates global warming, and indigenous community concerns were severely marginalized during the development of the plans. These plans are so unsound that Bush’s own Environmental Protection Agency and National Marine Fisheries Service both recommended that they not move forward. Now is the time for the new Administration to address climate change, develop a comprehensive national oceans policy, implement a responsible energy policy, and protect America’s coastlines and the ecologically and culturally rich Arctic environment. Instead of rushing to drill fragile and poorly understood ecosystems, we must halt current industrial activities in the Arctic Ocean—including seismic testing and exploratory drilling—to truly understand the consequences of our actions. I urge you, Secretary Salazar, to cancel ill-advised plans to increase offshore drilling along America’s coastlines, undertake baseline scientific studies in the Arctic Ocean, engage in a respectful and meaningful dialogue with the traditional indigenous communities of Alaska, and protect sensitive ecological areas such as the Arctic Ocean and Bristol Bay. Any five-year program and a new national oceans policy should reflect these priorities. It is time that the Department of Interior once again fulfills its role to be a responsible steward of our natural heritage. We will add your signature from the information you provide.		First Name* Last Name* Email* Street* Street 2 City* State/Province* Select a state Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Armed Forces (the) Americas Armed Forces Europe Armed Forces Pacific Alberta British Columbia Manitoba Newfoundland New Brunswick Nova Scotia Northwest Territories Nunavut Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon Territory Other Zip/Postal Code* Send an Email Send a Fax