Trump could be fighting the pandemic or working on facilitating the transition to the Biden administration. Instead he’s doing everything he can to open the Arctic to Big Oil & Gas before he leaves office.
Last week, the Trump administration sped up harmful seismic testing. This week, it’s rushing to auction off rights to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before President-elect Biden takes office!
The Arctic is already experiencing some of the worst effects of climate chaos on the planet, and opening it up to oil and gas drilling is the last thing we need. The region is battling a prolonged heatwave and unprecedented wildfires. Populations of whales, polar bears, seabirds and walrus are suffering with the Arctic’s changing climate, and other sensitive resources that the Native Gwich’in people of the Arctic depend on are being put at risk.
Iconic and sacred landscapes such as the Arctic should never be opened for oil and gas drilling, and Food & Water Action will fight to stop Trump and his administration at every turn. We will do everything we can to put an end to oil and gas drilling.
John, the Trump administration is ending as it began: with a desperate push for oil drilling regardless of the human or environmental costs.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most biodiverse regions on the planet. It is home to polar, grizzly and black bears, more than 200 species of birds, eight marine mammal species, and iconic northern species like caribou, wolves, muskoxen and moose. Many of these species, already endangered, need the unique and irreplaceable habitat found in the refuge to survive and flourish. And these animals are essential to the traditional way of life of Indigineous Alaska Native people who have lived in this area for millenia.
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is and should remain OFF-LIMITS to Big Oil & Gas and any new drilling. Why? Because drilling for oil and gas takes us further away from solving our climate crisis, and the unpredictable ice conditions and months of darkness in the Arctic mean there’s no easy way to keep an oil spill from damaging ecosystems and wiping out wildlife.
Oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would devastate this treasured public land, its wildlife and the human rights of Indigenous people. Will you join our fight to block Big Oil & Gas from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?
Public pressure and collective strategic action work. It is public pressure that has kept oil and gas interests from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the past 20 years, and it’s public pressure from the Gwich'in people and activists like us that will keep the Trump administration, and future administrations, from allowing drilling in this national treasure. Almost 15,000 Food & Water Action supporters have already taken action against this reckless and irresponsible decision. Your voices are making a difference!
But we need to keep pushing to save the Arctic from Big Oil & Gas. We can — and we will — protect the Arctic from oil and gas drilling!
Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Action and Food & Water Watch
Food & Water Action and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Watch, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate. This email was sent to [email protected] - and we're glad you got it, because it's one of the most important ways you can reclaim political power, hold elected officials accountable and resist corporate control.
