Dear NRDC Activist,

We’re in a government shutdown. And yet, the Trump administration is moving to open up over 18 million acres of Western Arctic wildlands to climate-busting drilling.

This is a threat to all of America’s Arctic.

WHAT’S HAPPENING
Before the administration can take another dangerous step, they must collect public comments about what areas of virtually untouched Western Arctic lands should be leased for oil and gas drilling.

But we know the answer: Zero.

We only have until November 21 to create a massive public outcry opposing oil and gas drilling in the Western Arctic — submit your official comment NOW!

WHY IT MATTERS
The administration is pushing for drilling in the Arctic despite the financial risks for companies to operate in this fragile, remote ecosystem.

And we are not in an energy emergency — the U.S. has more than enough energy to meet demand. This is just part of the Trump administration’s broader plan for a massive public lands giveaway to corporate polluters like ConocoPhillips, which is creating a hub for fossil fuel development in the Arctic.

In the last two weeks, the administration has:

• Fast-tracked a plan to offer up to 1.56 million acres of the National Arctic Wildlife Refuge’s entire Coastal Plain to oil and gas corporations
• Expedited approval and permits for the Ambler Mining Road, a private industrial road that would cut through the Brooks Range and Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve wilderness
• Made plans to announce any day now a disastrous offshore drilling plan that includes selling out the Arctic’s wildlife-filled Beaufort and Chukchi Seas

WHAT’S AT STAKE
Meanwhile, our Arctic ecosystem and the life it supports pay the price. Grizzly and polar bears, caribou, rare birds, and other wildlife species rely on Arctic lands and waters for survival.

And more oil drilling in the Arctic will lock us into more fossil fuel addiction in a region that is warming more than four times faster than the rest of the world — stopping drilling here is a key step to avert climate catastrophe.

Tell the Trump administration to halt drilling plans for the Arctic before it’s too late.

WHAT WE CAN DO
NRDC’s legal team is considering all of our options to fight back against threats in the Arctic. We are in court defending protections for these same Western Arctic lands that are now at risk of being leased for drilling. We also sued the first Trump administration, challenging their unlawful attempt to open the Arctic Refuge to drilling, and we are still in court today.

And in Washington, policy experts at our partner organization the NRDC Action Fund are working to block congressional attacks on fundamental Arctic protections — proposals that are still moving forward despite the shutdown.

But we need your help to generate massive public support for protecting the Western Arctic. Nearly 150,000 NRDC supporters like you helped win safeguards for these same lands last year — and now that they’re on the administration’s chopping block, we need your voice more than ever.

We cannot let our pristine Western Arctic lands be opened up for dirty drilling. Submit your public comment right away.

Sincerely,

Bobby McEnaney
Director, Land Conservation, Nature Program, NRDC