Shining The Spotlight On Interior
It’s time to shine a light on the Interior Department’s plans to destroy the Arctic Refuge. Help us make sure that President Trump and Interior Secretary Bernhardt hear our message: drilling will kill polar bears.
December 6, 2019, marked the fifty-ninth anniversary of the creation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, then referred to as the Arctic National Wildlife Range. We decided to take that opportunity to shine a spotlight — literally — on the Department of Interior and its abuse of science and its reckless push to open the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling.
You can find images and video below, including our own Outreach Director Monica Scherer discussing why we took this message directly to the Interior Department — to tell Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and President Trump: SHAME ON YOU for trying to drill in this wild place.
You can help us amplify our message to the Interior Department by sharing our tweet below!
In honor of the Arctic Refuge anniversary, last night we shined a light on @Interior’s destructive rush to drill in this sacred place.
RT with the hashtag #ProtectTheArctic to show you’re standing with us! pic.twitter.com/Zhi7OLQj52
— Alaska Wilderness League ❄️ (@alaskawild) December 6, 2019
Seventy-seven percent of the Arctic Refuge coastal plain is designated critical habitat for imperiled polar bears, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and are also federally protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The coastal plain is the most important onshore denning habitat for polar bears in the United States, and mother polar bears with cubs are increasingly denning in this area as annual sea ice melts more quickly due to a warming climate. Oil and gas development in the coastal plain could forever damage this essential habitat for the species. And before any drilling might occur, seismic exploration could also harm or potentially kill polar bears and their cubs. It could force them to leave their dens into dangerous conditions or cause their dens to be crushed under the weight of heavy machinery.
And so we ask the Interior Department: If you allow drills, how many will you kill?
Above: A sample of posts from League and Arctic Refuge supporters.
Below: Download the image below and ask the Interior Department: Why are you willing to allow the killing of threatened polar bears in order to drill for unnecessary oil? (Tag using @USInterior on Facebook or @Interior on Twitter.)
