Activists Travel to Hartford for the Arctic Refuge
On November 10, Alaska Wilderness League supporters joined many of our Arctic National Wildlife Refuge partners at a rally in Hartford, CT calling on Travelers Insurance to adopt a policy against insuring oil projects in the Arctic Refuge.
The well-attended rally included a crowd of more than 50 listening to speakers before walking together over to Traveler’s Insurance headquarters. Together, we delivered over 64,000 signatures on a letter asking their CEO to meet with the Gwich’in Steering Committee and agree to not insure drilling in the Arctic Refuge.
A range of speakers, from our partners at Seeding Sovereignty, to students from local colleges and representatives from local community organizations spoke powerfully about the effects of the climate crisis both in the Arctic and in Connecticut, how environmental justice issues impact communities both local and distant, and how working together and raising our voices can bring about important change. As the crowd buzzed with energy, we walked the few blocks from the rally to Travelers’ headquarters and delivered the comments. It has been a while since we rallied in-person for the Arctic Refuge and it felt amazing to once again stand firmly side by side and build momentum for its protection. We were gratified that representatives from Travelers came out to meet the group and take our comments.
As of today, 17 international insurers and 29 global banks—including all six major U.S. banks and all five major Canadian banks—have made it company policy to stop financing oil and gas projects in the Arctic.
Alaska Wilderness League will continue to work with our partners in Alaska and around the world to gather commitments from national and international insurance companies to stop providing insurance to develop the Arctic Refuge, or ideally, the broader Arctic landscape. You can join the fight by following us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Additional resources:
- Insure Our Future 6th annual Scorecard on Insurance, Fossil Fuels and the Climate Emergency
- New Haven Register article, Letter: Protect wildlife refuge
- The Daily Campus article, UConn Hartford passes resolution for Arctic Refuge protection
Photo credit: @megansteelephotos
