Sec. Salazar: Ditch the Bush plan and put science first!

Action Alert

Sec. Salazar: Ditch the Bush plan and put science first!

America's Arctic is already ground zero for climate change. Despite this, the Bush administration pressed forward with an unprecedented drilling plan - without first determining the full extent of the impacts on a region already stressed by climate change.

They chose to drill first and damn the consequences. That plan is still in place. We need the Obama administration to act to change it. Send a public comment below...

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Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar

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Subject:
Comments on the proposed 2010-2015 Oil and Gas Leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf and on the current re-analysis of the 2007-2012 Leasing Program.

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Thank you for taking the bold step of examining, in-depth, the new five-year plan for development off our nation's coasts.  America's Arctic, including Bristol Bay in the Bering Sea, is a national treasure. It's been part of our heritage for generations, but if we want to pass it on to our children, we must tread lightly in this delicate ecosystem that is already under great stress due to climate change. Once it's destroyed, it's gone forever.

The Bush administration's aggressive plans for oil and gas development, as reflected both in the current 2007-2012 Leasing Program and the 2010-2015 Draft Proposed Leasing Program have no place in the Arctic Ocean or Bristol Bay. The Obama administration must not squander a national treasure to line the pockets of Big Oil. In February, when you announced your plans to extend the public comment period on the 2010-2015 plan, you pledged to "make wise decisions based on sound information." We urge you to continue the process you have begun, and come up with a rigorous plan for America's Arctic that will ensure its survival -- not its destruction.

The Arctic is the "least studied and most poorly understood place in the world," according to the U.S. Arctic Commission. Thus the full range of impacts from development is unknown. We can't proceed with oil and gas drilling until we understand the impacts on this rapidly changing environment.

One thing we do know is that there is currently no technology that exists to clean up an oil spill in the Arctic's icy conditions. Once the drills start, government scientists have predicted a 40 percent chance of one or more large oil spills in the Chukchi Sea alone.  We also know that because of its incredibly important and valuable salmon fishery that no leasing should be allowed in Bristol Bay.

The new five-year leasing plan for our nation's oceans and your reconsideration of the current Bush plan that was required by the court give you the opportunity to reverse the Bush-era leasing decisions in the Arctic and strike a new path. Please throw out the Bush administration five-year plans and the illegal Arctic Ocean leases that followed.  Please create a plan of your own that fulfills your vision of a science-based, comprehensive approach to offshore development that emphasizes renewable energy and that will ensure a legacy of healthy, living oceans for future generations.  Until you complete such a plan I urge you to impose a "timeout" on all oil and gas related activities in the Arctic Ocean.  I also urge you to withdraw Bristol Bay from all oil and gas leasing.

I commend you for providing more time for public comment on the OCS leasing plans, for your personal attendance at the hearings around the country, and for your stated intention to base future development decisions on sound science.

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