Defenders of Wildlife Blog

NEWS: Some of the $1 billion BP announced it would release yesterday to help speed the cleanup and recovery of the Gulf of Mexico must go to expanding coastal wildlife refuges, according to a coalition of conservation groups.

The following are statements from Defenders of Wildlife and the National Wildlife Refuge Association:

“We’re encouraged to see BP make a billion dollar down payment on restoring the Gulf, but given that BP is seeking $40 billion from its corporate partners, it looks like BP agrees with us that the damage wreaked by this disaster will take far more than a billion dollars to fix,” said Timothy Male, Vice President of Conservation Policy with Defenders of Wildlife. “One of the very best investments for these dollars is expanding coastal wildlife refuges. These wetlands and beaches were on the frontlines of the damage, and they should be in the front of the line for relief.”

“These much-needed funds will help the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service begin restoring areas hard hit by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” said David Houghton, Vice-President of Conservation Programs with the National Wildlife Refuge Association. ”With hundreds of thousands of pounds of oil still being removed from Gulf Coast refuges, the need for habitat restoration dollars could not be greater.”

Background:

Funds from the Early Gulf Coast Restoration Agreement can be put to work immediately on projects to restore and protect habitat that will help oil-affected species begin recovering in the Gulf.  A few examples include:

In Louisiana, the $250 million barrier island restoration at Chandeleur Islands is a good candidate for funding. This 5,000-acre project at Breton National Wildlife Refuge would restore barrier island habitat and provide nesting habitat for affected species such as brown pelican, black skimmers, laughing gulls and royal and sandwich terns, and protection of back barrier tidal flats to promote establishment and growth of seagrass beds critical to wintering redhead ducks and other important estuarine species.

We’re encouraged to see BP make a billion dollar down payment on restoring the Gulf, but given that BP is seeking $40 billion from its corporate partners, it looks like BP agrees with us that the damage wreaked by this disaster will take far more than a billion dollars to fix.

In the Florida Panhandle, the $134 million Lake Wimico project would protect and restore 67,000 acres at St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge. This acquisition would benefit two major estuarine systems, protecting an important bottlenose dolphin nursery and providing significant water quality benefits to oyster and scallop populations in Apalachicola and St. Joseph’s Bays.  This project would have significant long-term economic benefit on local economies because of its positive impact on the commercial fisheries resource.

Read the early restoration agreement.

On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 of its workers and initiating a massive oil disaster that claimed the lives of thousands of birds, sea turtles, marine mammals and other wildlife. Now, a year later, the Gulf is still reeling from the disaster.

Oil continues to wash up on beaches and contaminate wildlife refuges. A slew of baby dolphin deaths could mean the loss of an entire generation of marine mammals, and a suspicious rise in sea turtle strandings could leave the survival of some species hanging in the balance. Coastal communities that rely on fishing and tourism have yet to get back on their feet. Recovery is only just beginning.

Defenders is fighting to protect sea turtles, pelicans, dolphins, and other wildlife still threatened by the Gulf oil disaster.

Shortly after the tragedy began to unfold, Defenders dispatched several wildlife experts, including our executive vice president Jamie Rappaport Clark, to the Gulf to bear witness to the tragedy. Our goal was to determine the best ways for us to help protect the wildlife and natural habitats that were harmed by the toxic oil and chemical dispersants that filled Gulf waters. With a year gone by and the long road to recovery stretched before us, we are committed to standing by the region every step of the way.

Here’s what Defenders is doing:

On the Ground

Over the past 10 months, Defenders’ chief scientist, Chris Haney, has been conducting what is now the most extensive sea bird survey ever performed in the Gulf of Mexico. The information collected on the water will revolutionize the way we measure the impacts of oil spills on birds in the future. Later during this year and into 2012, Dr. Haney will host training workshops to help countries in the Caribbean and Mexico anticipate and prepare for the damage an oil spill could cause to their migratory bird populations.

In Florida, Defenders is working to put a state constitutional amendment banning oil drilling within state waters on the ballot in an upcoming general election. By working to raise the 700,000 signatures needed to get the drilling ban on the ballot, we will empower the people of the state to protect their communities, livelihoods and unique wildlife from the dangers of offshore drilling.

Under the Water

From just below the surface all the way to the sea floor, the oil spill impacted wildlife throughout the Gulf of Mexico water column. Defenders’ coral scientist, Dan Thornhill, was in the middle of a deep-sea study when the disaster struck the Gulf. He and his team of researchers are now working to process data gathered a mile below the surface before, during and after the spill to see how deep-sea animals and ecosystems fared after exposure to massive amounts of oil and chemical dispersants. The situation looks bleak, but only by learning more about the unique creatures of the deep ocean can we know the full extent of the damage.

It will take years, maybe even decades, for the Gulf of Mexico to fully recover from this horrific oil disaster. But Defenders won’t give up until the job is finished.

In Washington

A year since the Deepwater Horizon blowout, Congress has yet to pass meaningful oil spill prevention and response legislation. Defenders has mobilized tens of thousands of caring wildlife supporters to send hundreds of thousands of messages to Congress and the Obama Administration with one goal: to prevent the next oil disaster and ensure protections for wildlife impacted by the Deepwater Horizon tragedy and other oil spills. We continue to be a voice for the wildlife and coastal communities in the Gulf region as we work to ensure that the risky offshore industry operates in the context of our national interest moving forward and accepts full financial liability for its mistakes.

In the Courts

Defenders is working to make sure that BP is held accountable for the devastation it caused to wildlife and natural habitats in the Gulf region, and to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again. We are speaking up for the threatened and endangered wildlife illegally harmed as a result of this tragedy as well as seeking changes to the environmental review and permitting process for offshore drilling to make sure we predict, assess and stop environmental harm before it happens.

Planning Restoration

Defenders has been very active in the process to determine which efforts will be the most critical as the real work to rehabilitate and restore the Gulf region begins. We have attended Restoration Task Force meetings in the Gulf and are engaged in the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process, which is working to determine the full extent of harm done to natural resources in the region and how they may be properly restored.

It will take years, maybe even decades, for the Gulf of Mexico to fully recover from this horrific oil disaster. But Defenders won’t give up until the job is finished—our wildlife and wild places are too important.

Although the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded not even a year ago, claiming 11 lives and setting off the worst oil disaster in U.S. history, Congress has launched a major push for more drilling.

BREAKING: President Obama’s speech today touting efforts to rein in foreign oil consumption comes amid a major push in Congress for more high-risk domestic drilling and weaker environmental safeguards.

Defenders of Wildlife, however, is calling on the Obama administration and Congress to focus less on dirty, fossil fuel production and more on safe, renewable energy development.

The following is a statement from Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife:

“Thankfully President Obama is confronting our addiction to oil. While we don’t agree with everything the President said today, particularly his short-term plan to ramp up new domestic drilling and suggestions that this could include frontier areas in Alaska, he has a long-term plan for diversifying energy sources, improving energy efficiency and transitioning to a cleaner, more sustainable future.

“This stands in stark contrast to the members of Congress who are solely focused on helping their Big Oil buddies continue to make obscene profits while most Americans struggle to pay rapidly rising gas prices.

Thankfully President Obama is confronting our addiction to oil. This stands in stark contrast to the members of Congress who are solely focused on helping their Big Oil buddies continue to make obscene profits while most Americans struggle to pay rapidly rising gas prices.

“The Obama administration is taking some right and necessary steps to reduce our long-term dependence on foreign oil. But a key element that was missing from today’s speech was a reaffirmed commitment to accelerating the development of environmentally-responsible renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal today. In the long term, these are the only truly secure and reliable sources of energy we have.

Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen

“Responsible, sustainable and secure energy development can only be achieved if we’re smart from the start. With the right policies in place, we can improve transportation, reduce prices at the pump, and still power our homes and cities. We can do so without sacrificing clean air, drinking water, wildlife, and the health of our planet and its people. We need to not only reduce our dependence on foreign oil, but also transition away from dirty, polluting fuels altogether. It is the only responsible thing to do.”

More Details

• President Obama outlined federal efforts to reduce dependence on foreign oil and diversify energy sources, including renewable energy and efficiency in a speech today
• The speech comes as a flurry of measures are being introduced in Congress this week to ramp up domestic drilling – including new areas in the Gulf of Mexico, Arctic Ocean, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and sensitive Atlantic and Pacific coastal waters
• Congressional proposals are also seeking arbitrary exemptions for offshore drilling that would force the Interior Department to act on all new applications for wells – including those like the Deepwater Horizon – within an unrealistic 30-day deadline, which would likely result in hasty, insufficient reviews
• Defenders of Wildlife calls on the Obama administration and Congress to focus less on dirty, fossil fuel production and more on safe, renewable energy development

Read up on the President’s proposal.

Learn more about Defenders’ work to protect American coasts from offshore drilling disasters.

Defenders envisions a clean energy future that’s smart from the start. Learn more>>

San Francisco Bay Area handbag designer Mary Frances — whose artsy, whimsical creations have adorned the arms of  celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Kate Hudson, Teri Hatcher and Jennifer Aniston — is generously donating five percent of sales from her Ocean Habitat handbag to Defenders of Wildlife.

Elegant beadwork defines these finely crafted pieces of wearable art that celebrate and call attention to the beauty and importance of our oceans. The designer describes the bag on her website: “A Capri blue ocean sets the background for sea creatures surrounded by seaweed, coral, and embellished with real shells.”

An oil-slathered Kemp's ridley sea turtle in the Gulf of Mexico gets help from a veterinarian during BP's oil disaster last summer.

This timely donation comes on the heels of the federal government’s final report, released on Tuesday, chronicling the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster that spread over huge swathes of the Gulf of Mexico with devastating impacts to marine life last summer.

Thanks, in part, to her support, Defenders will continue to advocate for safer drilling regulations and stronger protections for our oceans and marine life.

You Can Help

• Pick up an Ocean Habitat handbag from Mary Frances Accessories online
• Find out what YOU can do to help wildlife impacted by the BP Gulf oil disaster

Today, the Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling presented the results of its comprehensive, nonpartisan investigation of the worst environmental disaster in American history. According to the report, the missteps and safety lapses that precipitated the Deepwater Horizon blowout are industry-wide.

Richard Charter, offshore drilling expert and senior policy advisor for Defenders said, “The well-researched findings issued today chronicle the shortcuts and flawed drilling industry practices that led to the BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil disaster and even now threaten other coasts. But a report cannot, by itself, protect America’s shorelines and regional economies from a repeat of the same disaster.”

Congress has yet to take legislative action in response to the BP Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil disaster, to ensure that this risky industry operates in the future in the context of our national interest and accepts full financial liability for its mistakes.

Richard said, “Congress must now take legislative action to deal with the persistent environmental and economic impacts of the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and chart a responsible path focused on alternatives to oil to keep America’s coasts and natural treasures safe.”

Learn more:

See how Defenders is working to protect America’s coastlines and wildlife from the threats of offshore drilling.

Find out what YOU can do to help wildlife impacted by the BP Gulf oil disaster.

Defenders’ president Rodger Schlickeisen has just posted his opinion about President Obama’s recent decision to block offshore oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic coast and in parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen

This welcome decision reverses President Obama’s announcement earlier this year that would have significantly expanded offshore drilling. Now, drilling won’t be allowed off the Atlantic or Pacific coasts, or in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, for at least the next five years. (However, oil companies still hope to expand drilling in the Arctic’s Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, which Defenders will continue to vigorously oppose.) In light of this year’s disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that continues to blight that region’s coastal environment and economy, suspending new offshore drilling is the right move, according to Rodger Schlickeisen:

If our society does not learn from our mistakes, we are doomed to repeat them, at the cost of irreparably damaging America’s important economic sectors that depend on clean coastal waters.

“We need to allow the facts and sound science to fully emerge from the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history; apply the hard lessons learned in the Gulf of Mexico to our future ocean management policies; and let improved well-control measures and redundant blowout preventers and other long-overdue safety systems guide us on a reasonable and measured path forward.

“If our society does not learn from our mistakes, we are doomed to repeat them, at the cost of irreparably damaging America’s important economic sectors that depend on clean coastal waters.  Now is clearly not the time to take an ill-advised gamble with the Atlantic coast, Florida’s Gulf Coast, our Arctic Ocean, nor with the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”

You can read Rodger’s full post on National Journal’s Environment and Energy blog.