Ringed seal. Credit: Sven Roeder

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar acknowledged that “Shell screwed up” and announced they would not be allowed back into the Arctic without major changes. It was the right call, because a major oil spill in the Arctic ocean poses unacceptable risks to fragile Arctic marine ecosystems and the coastline, and would harm people who live in the Arctic and depend on the ocean for subsistence. Any major spill would also occur hundreds of miles from the nearest Coast Guard station, and recovery would be hampered by the constant threat of sea ice, low temperatures, high winds, fog and long stretches of darkness.  There is simply no proven technology to clean up a spill in Arctic conditions.

America’s Arctic Ocean is home to many of our nation’s most beloved wildlife species: polar bears, walrus, ice seals, beluga whales and more. While Shell will not be drilling in America’s Arctic in 2013, the Arctic Ocean could still be at risk next year when we are remembering the 25th anniversary of Exxon Valdez.  

It’s up to the American people to let President Obama know that drilling in America’s Arctic Ocean is risky and dangerous. Call President Obama at 202-456-1414, or
tweet the White House (@whitehouse) and tell the President to say no to drilling in the Arctic Ocean.  Here is an example:

Polar bears love their Arctic home– @whitehouse #SaveTheArctic and say no to risky and dangerous drilling

— Bentley Johnson (@rutherfordbhaze) March 26, 2013

Retweet to help save Arctic wildlife from drilling and tell @whitehouse to #SaveTheArctic!

To learn more about National Wildlife Federation’s work to protect the Arctic and Arctic wildlife, visit www.nwf.org/Arctic.

Last week, a group of five dedicated folks from all across the country made the trek to Washington, DC to answer just those questions. They were making the case to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that what happens in the Arctic affects wildlife across the country.

Watch this short video to hear their powerful stories:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Encompassing 23.5 million acres, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is the largest single unit of public land in the nation and provides habitat for caribou, grizzlies, polar bears, wolves, and millions of migratory birds–including tens of thousands of ducks and geese highly valued by sportsmen throughout the nation.

For the first time ever, BLM is considering a new management plan for the Reserve to determine which of these lands and waters will be developed for oil and gas leasing, and which will be protected. This planning process provides a unique opportunity to ensure that future development in the Reserve is properly balanced with conservation of the area’s exceptional wildlife habitat, particularly the four Special Areas with outstanding wildlife values in the Reserve.

A big thanks to Ray McCormick of the Indiana Wildlife Federation, James Tyson of the Colorado Wildlife Federation, Debra Lee of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, Joe Wilkinson of the Iowa Wildlife Federation and Joel Gay of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation for helping show the Bureau of Land Management that there is widespread public support for a balanced and responsible decision in the Reserve.

The BLM has just announced they are extending the public comment period deadline to June 15! If you haven’t spoken up yet, you still have a chance to join tens of thousands of wildlife advocates across the country that have already taken action.

Help protect Alaska’s caribou by urging the BLM to protect crucial habitat in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.

Photo Credit: Kelsey Bensch, The Wilderness Society

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to a diverse ecosystem that provides habitat for polar bears and Arctic terns as well as other species such as caribou, Arctic Fox, and musk oxen.  A wilderness designation for the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain — the area that is constantly under threat of drilling — is needed protect this habitat forever from development and help increase resiliency to the impacts of climate change.

National Wildlife Federation joined groups like Alaska Wilderness League, The Wilderness Society, Defenders of Wildlife and more to deliver 860,000 comments urging wilderness protection for the coastal plain of the refuge to the Fish and Wildlife Service.  Only Congress can designate wilderness through legislation, but a recommendation in Fish and Wildlife Service’s Comprehensive Conservation Plan would send a strong signal to Congress that oil and gas drilling is incompatible with the Refuge’s purpose.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Big Oil’s friends in Congress are still pushing a dirty energy agenda that includes open up the refuge to drilling and putting wildlife at risk.  They are even pulling out their own costumes.  Alaska Representative Don Young ‘donned’ a propeller beanie cap in a House Resources committee hearing in order to drive home the point that he favors more drilling on federal lands and waters.

Rep. Young wasn’t done there.  He also got into a heated exchange with famous author and historian Douglas Brinkley (author of “The Wilderness Warrior” about President Teddy Roosevelt) at an oversight hearing on “ANWR (Arctic Refuge): Jobs, Energy and Deficit Reduction.”  Clips from that hearing can be viewed here.

It’s clear that the pressure is on for the future of the Arctic Refuge and other sensitive areas at risk from drilling.  If you would like to make a difference to protect wildlife by pushing back against drilling proponents, take action by weighing in with federal decision makers.

USFWS/Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Alaskan Arctic is a place most people only dream about.

Endless daylight alternates with constant, freezing night. The Northern Lights illuminate wilderness rivers flowing from the Brooks Range to the Arctic Ocean. Polar bears, caribou, moose, grizzlies, Arctic fox, and seals depend on this extraordinary, but harsh environment for their survival.

>> Speak up for the Arctic Refuge by Nov. 15, 2011

Even with all the unique beauty and diversity the Alaskan landscape has to offer, it has been a political battleground for over 30 years. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national treasure which sustains more biological diversity than any other Arctic protected region, yet is constantly under attack by the oil industry. Big Oil wants to move their big drill rigs into the Arctic refuge, and are throwing around their big money on Capitol Hill to try to get their way. Under current law, Congress must approve any resource extraction activity on the refuge, including oil and gas drilling.

Right now, there are several proposals in Congress to drill for oil and gas in 1 million acres of the Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain. That’s why this region (a.k.a. the 1002 Area) is in desperate need of wilderness protection. In addition to supporting distinctive wildlife like muskoxen, a variety of waterfowl, diverse insects, and thousands of migratory birds, the Coastal Plain is critical for caribou herds that travel there in the summer months to birth and raise their calves.In fact, the Coastal Plain is known as the “Sacred Place Where Life Begins” to the native Gwich’in Nation, who have occupied this area for as long as 20,000 years and depend on the Porcupine caribou herd for their survival.

Arctic Fox

This fall, the Fish & Wildlife Service released a revised draft of the Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Arctic Refuge. These documents are reworked periodically for each refuge and contain necessary guidelines for long-term management. The draft CCP for the Arctic Refuge lists several management plan alternatives, including a recommendation that the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain be designated a wilderness area, protecting it from oil and gas extraction.

The Fish & Wildlife Service will consider public comments before selecting a preferred plan, giving Americans everywhere the opportunity to protect this critical calving ground and diverse habitat from unnecessary resource extraction. The Coastal Plain is in serious jeopardy from the proposed drilling and the more comments sent in, the more of an impact we can make on the decision.

If you feel the Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain deserves wilderness protection from big oil, we need YOU to send the Fish and Wildlife Service a comment. Please submit a comment by November 15th, 2011 and together we can keep Alaska wild!

1. On July 18, wildlife researcher Dr. Charles Monnett was put on suspension by his employer, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), pending an Inspector General’s investigation into undisclosed “integrity issues.”
2. On July 19^, USGS polar bear scientists at an international bear conference reported their early findings that the increasingly long distances that polar bears have to swim to reach polar ice in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas puts adults and their cubs at increasing risk of drowning. This provided additional support for previous published reports by George M. Durner and by Charles Monnett and Jeffrey Gleason of drowned polar bears.
3. On August 4, the same agency that suspended Dr. Monnett, BOEMRE, tentatively approved plans by Shell Oil to begin drilling for oil in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska’s coast as early as next year.

Of these three stories, the one that has received the most attention is the first. Politicians and interest groups that deny climate change is happening leaped on the Monnett suspension story. They are misleading the public by falsely discrediting scientific findings about the impacts of climate change on polar bears, even though BOEMRE has subsequently clarified that the suspension was not based on any concerns over Monnett’s published science, but rather on some-yet-to-be identified concerns over whether appropriate administrative processes were followed.

Read “Why Big Oil is Declaring War on Polar Bears – And How You Can Help Fight Back” to learn why the Monnett investigation has been seized upon by big polluters as a way to confuse the public about climate science.

Sadly, it is the other two stories that should be getting attention and causing alarm.

8 Science-Backed Facts About Polar Bears and Climate Change

The scientific evidence that polar bears are at increasing risk from climate change is overwhelming.  National Wildlife Federation has put together a helpful reference list of scientific studies, reports and books on the topic. This compilation is not intended to provide an exhaustive list of the science, but rather an overview of the newest and best science. To facilitate access, we have listed the top scientific findings, and included citation(s) for the original study.

Arctic sea ice is declining as a result of climate change.

References: 23, 9, 13, 18, 5, 25, 2, 3, 17

Sea ice is declining much faster than projected even under the worse case scenarios.

Reference: 17

Thicker, more stable multi-year sea ice is being replaced by thinner annual sea ice, reducing the ability of polar bears to capture their primary food, seals.

References:14, 17, 26, 13, 21, 7, 18, 6, 28

Polar bears are swimming further distances to reach the sea ice on which they hunt, increasing risks to both adult and subadult polar bears.

References: 6, 17, 20, 7, 14, 16, 13, 18, 10, 11

Sea ice decline means fewer hunting opportunities for polar bears and increased scarcity of food.

References: 17, 20, 14, 21, 16, 23, 19, 26, 24, 13, 6, 7, 18, 5, 1,11

Polar bear populations are already significantly decreasing in the southern portions of their range because of reduced hunting opportunity. Similar changes are beginning to be seen in more northern areas.

References: 17, 14, 20, 21, 16, 12, 23, 19, 26, 24, 13, 7, 18, 5, 27

Climate change will also increase conflicts between humans and bears.

References: 17, 18, 29

Polar bears can still be saved if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.

References: 9, 8

Stop a New Attack Threatening Polar Bears!

Members of Congress are considering legislation that cripples long-standing conservation programs,  increases global warming pollution, and facilitates further drilling in Alaska that threatens the very survival of polar bears. Help protect polar bears and many more wildlife by sending a message to your members of Congress, urging them to stop this unprecedented attack on wildlife.

https://online.nwf.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=1475&s_src=WildlifePromise

References

1. A Bayesian Network Modeling Approach to Forecasting the 21st Century Worldwide Status of Polar Bears
2. A rapidly declining perennial sea ice cover in the Arctic
3. Accelerated decline in the Arctic sea ice cover
4. Arctic sea ice decline: Faster than forecast
5. Climate change threatens polar bear populations: a stochastic demographic analysis
6. Consequences of long-distance swimming and travel over deep-water pack ice for a female polar bear during a year of extreme sea ice retreat
7. Effects of Earlier Sea Ice Breakup on Survival and Population Size of Polar Bears in Western Hudson Bay
8. Forecasting the Range-wide Status of Polar Bears at Selected Times in the 21st Century
9. Greenhouse gas mitigation can reduce sea-ice loss and increase polar bear persistence
10. Observations of mortality associated with extended open-water swimming by polar bears in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea
11. Polar Bear Distribution and Habitat Association Reflect Long-term Changes in Fall Sea Ice Conditions in the Alaskan Beaufort Sea
12. Polar Bear Population Status in Southern Hudson Bay, Canada
13. Polar Bears in a Warming Climate
14. Polar Bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea I: Survival and Breeding in Relation to Sea Ice Conditions, 2001-2006
15. Polar Bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea II: Demography and Population Growth in Relation to Sea Ice Conditions
16. Polar Bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea III: Stature, Mass, and Cub Recruitment in Relationship to Time and Sea Ice Extent Between 1982 and 2006
17. Polar Bears: The Natural History of a Threatened Species
18. Possible Effects of Climate Warming on Selected Populations of Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) in the Canadian Arctic
19. Possible Impacts of Climatic Warming on Polar Bears
20. Predicting Movements of Female Polar Bears between Summer Sea Ice Foraging Habitats and Terrestrial Denning Habitats of Alaska in the 21st Century: Proposed Methodology and Pilot Assessment
21. Predicting survival, reproduction and abundance of polar bears under climate change
22. Predicting the Future Distribution of Polar Bear Habitat in the Polar Basin from Resource Selection Functions Applied to 21st Century General Circulation Model Projections of Sea Ice
23. Range-Wide Status Review of the Polar Bear
24. Recent observations of intraspecific predation and cannibalism among polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea
25. Sensitivity of Hudson Bay Sea ice and ocean climate to atmospheric temperature forcing
26. Survival and breeding of polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea in relation to sea ice
27. Temporal Trends in the Body Condition of Southern Hudson Bay Polar Bears
28. Trends in the Dates of Ice Freeze-up and Breakup over Hudson Bay, Canada
29. 3^rd International Bear-People Conflicts Workshop Summary

If your office is as quiet as mine take a minute to watch this trailer for an amazing new film on Climate Refugees, and check out the website to find a screening near you.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This week’s stories:

1. Highlight of the Week: Fuel Efficiency Rules! Or, Cleaner Trucks Good for Wildlife, Economy
2. Quote: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
3. Economic Story of the Week: Think Big, Start Small
4. Editorial of the Week: GOP vs. Mother Nature
5. Drilling On Up
6. Feeling Hot Hot Hot?
7. DOE Panel Calls for Action on Fracking Impacts
8. Happening this Week

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Highlight of the Week

Fuel Efficiency Rules! Or, Cleaner Trucks Good for Wildlife, Economy

via Flickr/indiwench

President Obama has unveiled the first-ever fuel efficiency standards for medium and heavy duty pickup trucks, vocational trucks, and combination tractors/semis. The proposed National Heavy Duty Program will save Americans $35 billion in fuel costs, cut 98 million barrels of oil consumption annually by 2030 and clear 246 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution from our skies.

“These standards will provide welcome fuel savings, budget relief, and pollution reduction to those who rely on heavy trucks to move America’s goods and people, haul equipment on the job, or tow a boat to the lake,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation.

Coming on the heels of new standards for cars and light duty trucks, the National Heavy Duty Program would cut fuel consumption across all types of trucks from 2014-2018.

The three sets of standards would cut 639 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution annually by 2030 – the equivalent of about 10 percent of America’s carbon footprint today. “That’s a critical step in confronting global warming, the single biggest threat facing America’s wildlife,” said Zoe Lipman, the National Wildlife Federation’s senior manager for transportation and global warming solutions. “The standards will also cut America’s oil consumption by 3.4 million barrels of oil every single day – more than we currently import from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Venezuela combined.”

Check out NWF’s recently released joint report on the economic benefits of fuel efficiency standards.

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Quote:

via Sen. Boxer/Flickr

“They keep trying to overturn the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act. That’s not going to happen.”

-Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA).

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Economic Story of the Week

Think Big, Start Small

zilowatt.org

While Congress continues to squabble over energy efficient light bulbs a California nonprofit called Zilowatt is spreading energy conservation from the bottom up. The Palo Alto based organization is supplying interactive educational kits to schools this fall for outreach sponsored by the city’s utility departments.

The kits are packed with visual tools that allow students to learn at their own pace and use character superheroes Reuse, Recycle, Reduce and TIO (“Turn It Off”) to share lessons. The group’s goal is to provide materials to any school but they must first recruit a sponsor and a champion within the school to promote the program.

More on this story: NY Times

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Editorial of the Week

GOP vs. Mother Nature

(LA Times)

via Paul Fundenburg/Flickr

They loaded up the appropriations bill that funds the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency with dozens of riders that would encourage deadly pollution of the air and water, set back efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and allow uranium mining near the Grand Canyon, among other things. Such riders are commonplace on annual appropriations bills, but Washington insiders say they’ve never seen such a breathtaking assault on the environment.

If there was any good news from the chaos surrounding this week’s deal to raise the federal debt ceiling, it’s that the drawn-out congressional debate over the issue distracted GOP representatives from passing this monstrosity. (More…)

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Drilling On Up

Arctic Fox, via Billy Linblom/Flickr

The Obama Administration just gave the green light to Shell Oil’s Arctic drilling exploration plan, proving once again that oil companies are held to a different standard than everyone else.

In a statement BOEMRE (the offshore regulatory agency) said that they “found no evidence that the proposed action would significantly affect the quality of the human environment.” The final outcome is contingent on a few more approvals – for safety permits and other things – but most observers believe the point is clear: the government wants drilling to happen and is working hard to make that a reality.

But just this week the British government warned that several hundred tons of oil had likely leaked into the North Sea from a Royal Dutch Shell rig, the 11th reported incident since 2009.

So what’s the big deal? A lot of folks have pointed out the obvious: there’s no way Shell or any other company could control a blowout or clean up an oil spill in these conditions.

More on this story: AP

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Feeling Hot Hot Hot?

via Mr T in DC/Flickr

New data confirms what you already knew – July was incredibly hot, one of the warmest on record. Check out the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center recap of July 2011.

“We’ve had another unusually warm month and are on the way to another unusually hot year, but the reality is that these conditions are the new normals that we all need to get used to,” said Dr. Amanda Staudt, climate scientist with the National Wildlife Federation.

We’re on pace for the 35th consecutive year with global temperatures above the 20th century average. Some members of Congress may find the validity of climate change an inconvenient truth, but many U.S. cities are going above and beyond to mitigate it by lowering their carbon pollution and financing adaptation methods, for example, planting trees to increase shade to counter heat waves and elevating building foundations to account for projected sea level rise.

More on this story: Wildlife Promise, USA Today, NOAA’s State of the Climate

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DOE Panel Calls for Action on Fracking Impacts

Marcellus Shale, via Flickr/Marcellus Protest

The Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) Natural Gas Subcommittee recently called for better enforcement, oversight and transparency for the natural gas industry, including full disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, or ‘fracking.’

“The chemicals used to extract natural gas through fracking are often a mystery for local communities and state and federal regulators, so we applaud the panel for recommending the public disclosure of fracking chemicals,” said Kate Zimmerman, senior policy advisor on public lands for the National Wildlife Federation. “But this recommendation is just a tiny first step. Congress, the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior and the EPA also need to move forward to close the gaping loopholes in our environmental laws the natural gas industry continues to exploit. Energy companies and government watchdogs need to balance economics and jobs with protecting wildlife, clean water, clean air and human health.”

The National Wildlife Federation is not opposed to the development of natural gas; however, any energy development must be done in an environmentally sound manner that does not place wildlife and people at risk.

More on this story: NWF Media Center

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Happening this Week

Congress is on summer recess until September 6th.

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For more global warming news on Wildlife Promise click here.