From the Alaska Wilderness League (http://www.alaskawild.org):
Of course they chose this day to take their next step towards leasing the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil development: the anniversary of Deepwater Horizon, the largest environmental disaster in American history with 210 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico.
Could they be completely unaware of today’s significance? Deepwater, Exxon Valdez, Santa Barbara…our history is littered with oil spills and yet President Trump and his oil allies in Congress certainly have not signaled that they plan to “take care of our lands, our wildlife and our people” as promised. But that’s not the only reason today’s fast-tracked “notice of intent” to lease the Arctic Refuge looks so risky.
This high-speed effort ignores environmental protections, Gwich’in voices and the Arctic Refuge’s entire management plan. It is the first of many public comment periods that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is required to hold before leasing can move forward, and we absolutely need to leave a written trail expressing our disappointment in these shady moves.
Please submit a public comment to protest this drilling scam at https://act.alaskawild.org/sign/refugenotoilEIS/.
It was bad enough when, during televised public hearings, Senator Murkowski completely disregarded Sam Alexander, a member of the Gwich’in Nation, as he implored Congress to keep the Refuge safe and out of the tax bill. Now, the same leaders who promised a fair and open process have admitted they just wanted to force leasing through before they lose power on Capitol Hill or the Trump administration is voted out.(1) They know Americans want to protect our public lands and fight our climate crisis, and that they may not have long.
In the years ahead, we can win this battle, but it starts by telling the Trump administration this isn’t the way forward for our country. Comment today to build the record of opposition, as we work to regain protections for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
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