Mt. Wonalancet, NH, not far from the route of the Portland-Montreal Pipeline (photo: Chris Schoenboem)

Fighting back against Big Oil

Fortunately, New Englanders aren’t known to let themselves get trampled on. Local conservation groups, public health experts and many others has been fighting back against Exxon, bringing widespread attention to the project — enough that we have the support of nearly the entire Congressional delegation from those three states (Senator Ayotte, we’re still waiting on ya). We even managed to get 1,500 people to a rally in Portland back in frigid January, the biggest gathering of any kind in 25 years. Suffice to say, New Englanders care, and we don’t want this dangerous substance pumped through our rivers and forests, threatening species like moose and black bears and contributing to climate change.

The problem is, the US State Department (which is tasked with overseeing the pipeline) doesn’t necessarily notice anything amiss and hasn’t the told the company it can’t proceed without a new permit. The State Department needs to make it clear: if Exxon wants to bring poisonous, climate-wrecking tar sands across Northern New England, the impacts are going to be given a hard look and approval is going to needed. It’s a common sense requirement, just making sure we know the threats and the particulars before giving the green light to Exxon, but State hasn’t gotten involved yet because the company hasn’t made a formal proposal.

And that’s the catch-22: unless the State Department tells them to formalize their plans, Exxon might never get around to filing the paperwork — and they’ve already told regional officials they don’t have to. They’re more than happy to act like the cartoon cat burping up feathers, shrugging its shoulders when you ask what happened to Tweety Bird. But this is real life, and New Englanders want to protect their region and wildlife from spills and climate change.  All risk and no reward does not interest New Hampshire, or Vermont or Maine for that matter.

Mr. Smith (and a bunch more) goes to Washington

New England and DC — culture-wise — may sometimes feel like oil and water, but when actual oil and actual water are in the mix, it’s worth a trip to the nation’s capitol. On Monday, a group from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont came down to Washington, DC to tell their stories to State Department officials in person. It wasn’t your usual DC lobby trip: Fishermen, retired oil industry lawyers, and a handful of conservationists all made the rounds of Capitol Hill, meeting with agencies and Congressional offices with a simple request: Can someone PLEASE make sure this tar sands plan is carefully reviewed?

Our hometown lobby team at the State Department (photo: Peter LaFontaine/NWF)

Pushing toxic, spill-prone tar sands through Exxon’s pipeline across Maine is an all-risk, no-reward proposition. The health of Maine people, our economy, and our way of life, depend on clean water for drinking, tourism, our fishing industry, and recreation. - Lisa Pohlmann, Natural Resources Council of Maine

We plan to keep the heat on Exxon and the State Department, and our group also got a chance to sit down with (deep breath…) the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, to talk about updating our nation’s safety standards for tar sands projects like the Northeast pipeline and Keystone XL. After Mayflower — and Kalamazoo, before that — we can’t trust the industry to operate safely, or even to tell us what they have planned for our back yards.

It can be hard to tell with federal agencies, but I think State got the message.

Tell the US State Department to protect New England’s wildlife and communities from this dangerous and polluting project. Say “NO!” to the Portland-Montreal tar sands pipeline.

NTSB Photo – Ruptured Enbridge tar sands pipeline, Line 6B

Big Oil is trying to keep this project under the radar and avoid a scrutinizing presidential permitting process. A presidential permit is required for any project that crosses the American border and since the Exxon & Enbridge pipeline would cross into Canada, the permit requires that the administration assess the project and allow for public discussion (think Keystone XL).

Exxon & Enbridge Pipeline Project Under Scrutiny

Legislators from Vermont, Maine, & New Hampshire are joining tens of thousands of Northeast residents in speaking out against this proposed project. Out of the 12 northeast congressional members in the pipeline right of way states (VT, ME, NH), only Senator Kelly Ayotte from New Hampshire has yet to stand with her community in opposing the project. Members are sending letter after letter after letter urging Secretary Kerry to require a new presidential permit for the proposed Exxon & Enbridge pipeline project.

When Senators Susan Collins and Angus King of Maine were visited by the tar sands lobby (including the pipeline director for the American Petroleum Institute) a few short weeks ago, the lobby were told to be prepared for lengthy and appropriate government scrutiny over the project.

King told the group that reversing the flow of the Portland-Montreal Pipe Line “is presidential-permit-worthy. And it’s up to the petroleum industry to convince me otherwise.”

Collins, in a prepared statement Tuesday, recalled that the pipeline officials “were not definitive in response to my questions” about exactly what they were up to.

“Should the company decide to seek approval for this new use,” Collins added, “I would expect that appropriate environmental impact reviews would be completed.”

Moose photo by Rick Libbey

Protecting Moose from Dirty Tar Sands

The Exxon & Enbridge pipeline project runs through important moose habitat in New England. If this dangerous project is not stopped, toxic tar sands oil would threaten the waterways where moose live–and would fuel more tar sands operations in Canada that are destroying the boreal forests and polluting fresh water.

Speak up against the risks that the Northeast tar sands pipeline poses to wildlife and our communities>>>

Winter activities like ice fishing are becoming a thing of the past, due to climate change driven by tar sands and other fossil fuels. (Photo: Tom Gill)

But my arrival in Portland, Maine gave me hope. Organizers from across the region had called on citizens to stand up and demand that a likely proposal by oil giants Enbridge and Exxon to use an existing 62 year-old pipeline to bring carbon intensive, dirty tar sands through a pipeline that runs through Canada, and into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine for export be stopped. Tar sands are a thick, tarry substance mined in Alberta, the most extreme of “extreme oil.”  Mining them requires the vast destruction of pristine boreal forest habitat — the mines and their toxic waste ponds can be seen from space. However, this destruction is not the worst news about tar sands.  It is the climate impacts of tar sands that is so alarming. Tar sands are far more carbon intensive than conventional oil, and the tar sands region contains two times the amount of carbon that has already been emitted by human fossil fuel use, which is why leading climatologists  have warned that tar sands development would hurtle us past any hope for climate stability.

US Congresswoman Chellie Pingree addresses the crowd in Portland

Three days later, concerned citizens and groups in Vermont demanded that the same pipeline proposal be subjected to Vermont law that would give Vermonters the ability to reject this pipeline project.

Tar sands are part of a bigger picture, one that demands action to stem the tide of dirty fuels that are destroying our climate. No one under the age of 28 has lived to see a month where temperatures have been below the 20^th century average.  If we fail to act, crisp winter mornings may soon be a thing of the past in northern New England.  We can do better than that.  And the people of New England are demanding that now is the time to say no to dirty energy and yes to a clean energy future.

Help protect Northeast wildlife and communities from tar sands oil by urging the U.S. State Department to stop the Exxon/Enbridge pipeline!

A Trout Unlimited member asks about tar sands in streams and rivers

There were about 65 people in the room (impressive given that many of these towns have a population under 500), and presentations were given by the spill response head from the NH Department of Environmental Services, Shelley Kath from Natural Resources Defense Council , Larry Wilson (the head of the Portland to Montreal Pipeline Company), and John Quinn from the American Petroleum Institute. The presentations connected this pipeline to the international picture, and there was a lot of concern in the room about the idea of the project.

The pipeline company executive brought 2 employees as well as a state lobbyist with him, and although he denied having plans to run tar sands in the existing pipe he said he would be thrilled to if he was given the opportunity, as the pipeline is currently empty.

The Androscoggin River, less than 100 yards from the pipeline

Several people asked about climate and some were very pointed, asking the API person if he believed in climate change and if he felt it was human-caused. He made it clear that the American Petroleum Institute does not see climate change as their problem. Folks pointed out the local impacts a tar sands spill would have as well as the regional, national, and global effects of climate change. They reminded the oil executives that the Kalamazoo River in Michigan is still being cleaned up, more than 2 years later!

We had a great group there from our Tar Sands Free NH coalition, with several members of the Trout Unlimited Chapter (two of whom asked really good questions), some NH Audubon folks, some Appalachian Mountain Club folks, and Eric Orff, who is a retired state wildlife biologist who used to tag bears in that area back when he worked for the state.

All in all a good meeting and a clear indication from the communities of Coos County NH that they have lots of concerns about any project to run tar sands through their back yards.

People of the Granite State are not immune from the impacts. They barely got out a snow shovel last winter. The extent of snow cover across the Northern Hemisphere has decreased by approximately three to nine percent since 1978, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), trends that are likely to continue. And NOAA scientists project that by the end of the century, parts of the Northeast will lose as many as half of their snow-covered days each year.

The warming climate is taking its toll in New Hampshire:

• The Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University reported in August that in the Northeast, January through July 2012 was the warmest seven-month period since 1895, the year systematic record keeping began.
• For the first time in recorded history, Great Bay, a large tidal inlet between New Hampshire and Maine popular with winter smelt anglers, did not freeze over.
• Researchers studying moose mortality in NH say that it used to be typical for a moose to carry some 30,000 ticks, but the population of ticks has been magnified by climate change and warmer winter temperatures. Researchers have found that as many as 150,000 of the parasites can plague a moose at once. The blood-feeding winter tick causes 41 percent of all moose deaths in New Hampshire. With the populations of moose in decline, the associated reduction in annual hunting permits, and climate change impacts such as increased ticks, are threatening both a species and a cherished pastime for many hunters in New Hampshire.
• Climate change-induced sea level rise will inundate coastal marshes that serve as nurseries for fish, including the striped bass that live in the ocean and migrate up coastal rivers to spawn in the spring.
• As lakes heat up, some fish cannot thrive in the warmer waters.

A few weeks ago, support for action came from America’s hunters and anglers when a poll of that community, people of every political persuasion, found that a majority (59 percent) agrees that global warming is happening now and is causing extreme weather such as America’s hottest July on record. And they expect elected officials to act.

While candidates across the country debate issues like the future of Medicare, Afghanistan and the federal deficit, there’s rarely mention of our warming planet, much less a solution offered. Stemming climate change will take courageous steps. The presidential debates were not exactly a profile in climate change courage, so it falls to voters to demand more.

My son, Seth, visits with a salmander.

On Saturday, July 18, my son and I had a terrific day joining more than 1,000 people at NWF’s and New Hampshire Audubon’s Engage Nature event. The event was a big hit for the kids and their parents, from “ponding” (kids having fun with nets in a pond), “fielding” (kids having fun in a field catching and identifying insects), seeing bald eagles and screech owls and a zillion of other fun filled activities.

Engage Nature

New Hampshire Audubon, our newest state affiliate, did a terrific job in organizing the event. They had five separate locations, including the McLean Audubon Center, Massabesic Audubon Center, the Hebron Fair & Newfound Audubon Center, Ponemah Bog Sanctuary in Amherst, and the Seacoast Chapter of NH Audubon at the Seacoast Science Center. New Hampshire Audubon is an independent state Audubon.

The Concord Monitor did an excellent job at previewing the event on the front page of their weekend section, highlighting the affiliation between NWF and New Hampshire Audubon:

“The purpose of the affiliation is to strengthen,” said Kelly Wing, spokeswoman for the New Hampshire Audubon.

“It’s to provide a partnership that strengthens the capacity of each organization. . . . And it works particularly well, because of course, National Wildlife Federation being very large provides resources that a small organization like ourselves might not have. But what we can provide to them is local, on the ground, grassroots resources.”

Though it’s just begun, the affiliation has already helped pay for fundraising and development training for the New Hampshire Audubon’s staff and board that otherwise might not have happened due to limited financial resources.

Ranger Rick gives a “high five” to Mike Bartlett, New Hampshire Audubon President, as NWF’s Regional Representative Don Hooper, and NWF Board of Director Paul Beaudette look on.

National Poll Demonstrates Americans Realize the ‘Indoor Childhood’ is a Real Problem

I am sure that many of the event participants wouldn’t be surprised that a recent poll found that 82% of likely voters (Republicans and Democrats alike) believe that kids not spending enough time in is a problem (50% said it was an “extremely” or “very serious” problem). The poll was conducted by the Nature Conservancy, of “likely voters,” and demonstrates that conservation is a bipartisan, patriotic issue that united Americans from all walks of life.

NWF has some amazing resources for parents to make getting outside easy and fun. As a parent, I know my son’s schedule can often get focused on Taekwondo, hockey and other organized sports (which I love), so I make sure he gets as much unstructured time outdoors as possible. Some great resources that I recommend, include “The Dirt on Dirt: How Getting Dirty Outdoors Benefits Kids”, Whole Child: Developing Mind, Body and Spirit through Outdoor Play, and Green Time for Sleep Time.

Some happy kids before heading to the Pond to find some wildlife friends.

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Cleanup crews are still working to repair the damage caused by Enbridge's 2010 spill in Michigan (photo: Mic Stolz)

Enbridge Inc.—which is known for its terrible safety record and is responsible for a massive tar sands spill in the Kalamazoo River in 2010—has asked the National Energy Board in Canada to allow for a partial reversal of its pipeline between Ontario and Montreal to allow oil in that pipeline to flow east. If this reversal is approved, it is highly likely Big Oil will soon seek to move tar sands through a pipeline that now flows west from Portland, ME to Montreal by reversing the flow of that pipeline as well.

Such a reversal, if approved, would open the way for this dangerous fuel, which is much more corrosive, acidic, and harder to clean up in the event of spill than conventional oil, to flow through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.  The pipeline (called the “Portland to Montreal Pipeline” or PMPL) currently cuts through or borders some of New England’s most important waters, including Sebago Lake, the Connecticut River, and tributaries to Lake Champlain. While its safety record isn’t as abysmal as other companies’, the PMPL has suffered major spills, including one that fouled Lake Memphremagog, and is already much older than the projected lifespan of proposed new tar sands pipelines.

The Portland-Montreal Pipeline cuts through New England on its route to the coast.

But even as we take strides toward reducing global warming pollution, climatologists warn that tar sands are a carbon bomb in the process of being ignited. Because it takes so much energy to produce and refine, fueling cars with tar sands gasoline has about 20 percent more carbon emissions than fueling cars with gasoline from conventional oil. This means the use of tar sands will undermine any efforts in the Northeast to reduce carbon emissions from our transportation sector. Climate change threatens to make Vermont maple syrup and Maine lobsters things of the past. We need to turn to carbon-free sources of fuel now, not move in the opposite direction.

Sebago Lake -- one of Maine's biggest sources of drinking water -- would be put at risk by a tar sands pipeline (photo: Peter Hopper)

Tell Canada’s National Energy Board to stop the Trailbreaker pipeline proposal!

To hear NWF’s Jim Murphy talk about tar sands’ threat to Northeastern states, click here.

Read more about our work to fight back against Big Oil’s tar sands scheme at nwf.org/tarsands.

An iceless Bear Brook in Bear Brook State Park, New Hampshire (credit: Eric Orff)

I got an hour-long hike in recently at Bear Brook State Park near my home. Here is a place I have spent time each winter over the 33 years I have lived in Epsom. For the first time in my memory, Bear Brook, as in Bear Brook State Park, is ice-free in mid-February. I have snowmobiled, snowshoed, skied, and hiked past this brook all those years. The local snowmobile club spent countless hours preparing a trail called 360, which runs through the Park, and yet, not a single machine has passed by my house on the trail this winter. The trail lay bare before me yesterday as I hiked along it.

A snow-free snowmobile trail in Bear Creek State Park, New Hampshire (credit: Eric Orff)

My travels took me to the coast yesterday. I headed over early to take some time for a drive and to look at Great Bay in the daylight. Here again, I was struck by the view of an iceless Great Bay. I’m pretty sure this is the first time in recorded history that the Bay has not frozen.

Great Bay, New Hampshire (credit: Eric Orff)

Jan 6: Science Friday

Winter Wonderland? Wonder No Longer

The winter solstice has come and gone, making it officially winter in the U.S., with cooler temperatures, less sunlight, and, in some places, snow, ice, and frost. NWF’s David Mizejewski joins a panel of experts to discuss the different phenomena that combine to make up the season we call winter, and give tips for how best to appreciate the natural world in wintertime.

Jan 5: The Washington Post

Advice from a former obese kid

The new year has brought with it renewed pledges to make 2012 the year we finally take on the childhood obesity epidemic.

Max Greenberg has his own thoughts on this front. Greenberg works for the National Wildlife Federation and Outdoors Alliance for Kids. He’s an avid promoter of unstructured physical activity to combat the childhood obesity epidemic.

Jan 4: Foster’s Daily Democrat (op-ed)

Silent Swing: On Trips Through NH, Candidates Failing to Talk Conservation

Theodore Roosevelt creating the National Parks System to Richard Nixon establishing the Environmental Protection Agency to George H.W. Bush signing a strengthened Clean Air Act, Republicans have a long history of supporting common sense solutions to problems facing our wildlife, air, water and public health. Will this year’s crop of GOP candidates follow that conservative presidential tradition?

So far, the signs aren’t promising. I’ve heard plenty about jobs, but little of protecting the rivers, lakes and wildlife habitat that supports thousands of hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation related jobs across New Hampshire. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife, in New Hampshire 228,000 people spent $177 million on fishing in 2006. Every dollar spent on conservation programs here in New Hampshire delivers jobs and economic activity.

Dec 30: The Washington Post

Mild weather redefines winter landscape

At the National Arboretum, the white petals of snowdrops — normally an early spring flower — have unfurled. In Maine’s Acadia National Park, lakes still have patches of open water instead of being frozen solid. And in Donna Izlar’s back yard in downtown Atlanta, the apricot tree has started blooming.

It’s not in your imagination. The unusually mild temperatures across several regions of the country in the past few months are disrupting the natural cycles that define the winter landscape.

Dec 29: The Colorado Independent

BLM sage-grouse guidance ruffles some enviro feathers

Reactions from conservation groups both nationally and on the ground in Colorado have been mixed regarding this week’s U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) guidance for the preservation of habitat for the greater sage grouse.

The size of small chickens, the wild, mostly ground-bound birds are found on up to 47 million acres of federal land managed by the BLM in 10 western states, including Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Scientists say the bird is a key indicator species, but that populations have declined by up to 90 percent over the last century because of energy development, mining, grazing, residential development and invasive species of weeds in sagebrush country.

Dec 28: The Today Show

David Mizejewski with Cold-Weather Critters

David Mizejewski from the National Wildlife Federation introduces the TODAY gang to a few amazing animals, including an arctic fox, a snowy owl, a porcupine and more.

Dec 27: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (op-ed)

Keep drilling out of state parks

Pennsylvania’s state parks are special places. These public lands provide opportunities for families to connect with nature and for sportsmen and women to enjoy hunting and fishing. Our state parks also allow folks to escape from the stress of traffic jams and crowded cities for cleaner air and more peaceful moments.

Unfortunately, conserving these precious outdoor spaces for recreation and the quality of life they provide for Pennsylvania’s residents may conflict with another resource: natural gas.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Grizzly bears have a hard time getting an audience with their Representatives. But you can help them out, and send a message on their behalf.