Hello there,
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of the last untouched patches of wilderness on our planet, is home to countless grizzly bears, polar bears, caribou, gray wolves, and is “one of the few landscapes still safeguarded and sustainably used by its original indigenous inhabitants,” according to the managing director of the Alaskan Arctic Institute.
But the Trump administration is finalizing plans to open up these federally protected lands to oil and gas companies -- a move that would further worsen the climate crisis globally and in Alaska. Scientific American found that oil and gas drilling on the refuge could lead to species extinctions and release as many as 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
Despite facing lawsuits from environmental groups and the native Gwich’in tribe, Trump’s Secretary of the Interior is already preparing land leases and has said there could be a sale to energy companies by the end of the year.
Thank you for standing with us,
When Democrats Turn Out
