The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Illinois PIRG : Save the Western Arctic!

Dear Illinois PIRG supporter,



Oil companies are fighting to get their hands on the small amount of oil under Alaska's North Slope. Now the Bureau of Land Management is proposing a leasing plan for the Western Arctic that would allow oil companies to drill in this unique and critical wetland habitat.



Write ConocoPhillips CEO John Mulva and urge him to listen to his shareholders, elected officials, conservation groups, and consumers around the world and drop out of the Arctic Power lobbying group.  Also urge the company to stay out of sensitive areas within the Western Arctic/National Petroleum Reserve Alaska. Then, forward this email on to your friends and family members so they can help as well.



To take action, click on the link below or paste it into your web browser:



http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=6&id4=ES





Background



ConocoPhillips is one of two oil companies - along with BP - that dominate Alaska's North Slope.  The company is particularly active on the western side of the North Slope, hundreds of miles from the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge but on the doorstep of the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, otherwise known as the Western Arctic.



The Western Arctic's extensive network of wetlands supports world-class populations of golden eagles, peregrine falcons, and other birds of prey, along with millions of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds. Grizzly bears, wolves, caribou, and moose roam the foothills, beluga whales and spotted seals swim freely in icy coastal lagoons, and Arctic poppies and cotton grass dance in the wind. The Western Arctic is an area of stunning, untrammeled wilderness.



The weight of scientific evidence points toward significant impacts on the wilderness if sensitive areas within the Western Arctic are opened for drilling, especially from industrial-scale oil and gas drilling and development. 



The current leasing plan for the Western Arctic proposed by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management would allow oil companies to operate in unique and critical wetland habitat of Teshekpuk Lake. The lake is one of the single most important tundra-wetland complexes in the entire circumpolar Arctic.  Teshekpuk Lake is heavily used for subsistence purposes, especially its caribou.  Brant and other waterfowl that use the area are harvested for subsistence and sport in Alaska and throughout the Lower 48 states. 



On the eastern side of the North Slope is the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of America's last wild places.  Caribou, muskoxen, wolves, polar, brown and black bears, and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds rely on the wilderness habitat that the Refuge provides.  The Gwich'in people, Alaska natives who live near the Refuge, depend on the caribou.  For 20,000 years, their culture and way of life have been intimately bound up with the Porcupine River caribou herd.



Juxtaposed against these wilderness values is the chance of finding little or no oil.  At current rates of consumption, there is at best 6 months worth of oil in the Refuge.  An analysis by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund - False Profits: The Business Case Against Drilling in the Arctic Refuge - makes the case that there is NO economically recoverable oil in the coastal plain of the Refuge. You can read the full report here:



http://savethearctic.com/PDFs/arcticwhitepaper_2_4_02.PDF



PIRG's Arctic Wilderness campaign is targeting all four of the companies that want to drill in the Refuge.  In response to our campaign, BP dropped out of Arctic Power, the lobbying group, in 2001, and in April 2003, announced that drilling in the Arctic Refuge is not part of their current business plan.  It is now time to push ConocoPhillips to drop out of Arctic Power and refrain from drilling in sensitive parts of the Western Arctic.



Pressure is building on ConocoPhillips regarding their operations on the North Slope of Alaska.  In May 2004, more than 8 percent of ConocoPhillips shareholders voted in favor of a PIRG-sponsored shareholder resolution that called on the company to stay out of the Arctic Refuge. 



Write ConocoPhillips CEO John Mulva and urge him to listen to his shareholders, elected officials, conservation groups, consumers around the world - and even BP - and drop out of Arctic Power.  Also urge the company to stay out of sensitive areas within the Western Arctic/National Petroleum Reserve Alaska. Then, forward this email on to your friends and family members so they can help as well.



To take action, click on the link below or paste it into your web browser:



http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=6&id4=ES



Sincerely,



Rebecca D. Stanfield

Illinois PIRG Environmental Attorney

RebeccaS@illinoispirg.org

http://www.IllinoisPIRG.org



P.S.  Thanks again for your support.  Please feel free to share this e-mail with your family and friends.