Defenders of Wildlife Blog

As denning polar bear mothers care for their newborn cubs, the U.S. House could pass a devastating plan to industrialize the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—the most important onshore denning grounds for these threatened animals that are struggling to survive.

This will be the most important vote on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in five years—and it will likely happen this week.

Take action now: Urge your U.S. Representative to stand up for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and oppose the terrible Transportation Bill.

Scientists say that America’s polar bears could disappear in just a few short decades. But that’s not stopping Big Oil’s allies in Congress from handing over important polar bear homes for dirty drilling. And it’s not just the Arctic Refuge that’s at stake. This bill would also open up the Pacific and Atlantic coasts and waters in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

It’s a sweetheart deal for Big Oil—and a sellout of one of our most pristine natural areas that provides too little, too late for funding today’s transportation needs.

Stand up for polar bears and other wildlife—urge your U.S. Representative to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other coastal waters from Big Oil.

It’s not just our polar bears that need your voice. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of America’s most unique natural treasures, supporting a vast array of wildlife including arctic foxes, grizzly bears, muskoxen, Dall sheep, wolves and wolverines. And the coastal areas that this bill would open up to Big Oil are home to sea turtles, dolphins, and other wildlife.

Together, we can protect the Arctic Refuge—and the special wildlife that depend on it to survive.

Please take action today to urge your U.S. Representative to oppose this environmentally destructive and fiscally irresponsible bill that gives the heart of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and our coastal waters away to Big Oil.

As part of my job at Defenders, I continue to learn about the myriad tools we all have to help make wildlife management work in good times, and during crises like oil spills. I made a commitment after the heart-breaking BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico to be a better citizen by becoming a certified Wildlife Sea Otter Responder. Recently, on a clear, crisp, cold Saturday, about 40 of us gathered in a windowless training room to spend the day with trainers from International Wildlife Research (IWR), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Sea Life Center and the Alyeska/SERVS to get a first-hand look at what it takes to be a certified responder.

Sea otters are unique among arctic marine mammals since they rely on the thickness and distinctive make-up of their fur, rather than blubber, to keep them warm or cool and dry. They live in sea-ice covered coastal areas and spend considerable time floating on their backs, often eating shellfish or nursing and caring for their pups that, unlike the young of other aquatic mammals like seals, cannot swim when first born.

Most of us hope we never get that call to respond, because doing so would mean heartbreak and tragedy for sea otters, other marine life and coastal communities.

Sea otters require very specific round-the-clock care when oiled. Their survival and return to the wild depend heavily on certified Wildlife Sea Otter Responders both knowing their jobs and doing them correctly – the first time and every time.

The IWR team that leads these trainings includes scientists, veterinarians and wildlife specialists with expertise and real world experience in the care and rehabilitation of oiled wildlife. In fact, many of them are actual veterans of the infamous Exxon Valdez Spill in Prince William Sound in 1989. IWR has provided expertise for preparing and executing oil spill response operations for sea otters and other marine and land mammals for over 15 years.

Karla Dutton and vet tech Willow are demonstrating the proper taping technique to put on XL-sized protective equipment.

As I embarked on the 9-hour training, I was struck by not only the complexity of the course, but also the very real and serious commitment I was making by being there. After much coffee, careful listening to lectures and participating in a number of team problem-solving sessions, we were deemed ready for any oil spill emergency that might come our way. As a result, I now have my certificate and am on the national register of first responders.

The course and the online training and exam are well worth your time if you feel motivated to be part of a group who could be called in to help wildlife in an oil spill someday. Most of us hope we never get that call to respond, because doing so would mean heartbreak and tragedy for sea otters, other marine life and coastal communities. But 40 more people are now prepared if the phone rings.

Learn more about sea otters and what Defenders is doing to protect all wildlife  from the threat of oil spills.

Last night, Canadian TV’s news staff got on the phone with Richard Charter, offshore drilling expert and senior policy adviser at Defenders of Wildlife, to hear what he had to say about the explosion of the Vermilion 380, an offshore drilling platform owned by Mariner Energy of Houston.

After monitoring the aftermath of the explosion almost 100 miles south of Louisiana, Richard said, “Everyone is relieved that 13 workers were rescued safely from the waters, but in terms of environmental consequences it’s too early to tell.”

He told CTV of the company that owned the rig, “Mariner Energy since 2006 has had nine reported incidents in the Gulf of Mexico, including four fires and one blowout. There are these smaller events consistently throughout the Gulf of Mexico that we don’t usually hear about because they don’t occur – by coincidence – on the same day, today, that BP experts were removing the capping stack from the Deepwater Horizon Macondo well.”

The current moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would not have affected this rig, drilling at only 340 feet. Richard said, “The event today of course highlights that there are inherent risks of accidents in offshore drilling activities in any water depth.”

“We need to either make this activity safe or decide there are going to be  parts of hte planet that are too environmentally sensitive to go ahead with high risk drilling – the Arctic is of course one of  them. We’re getting some hard lessons as a society here.”

See the full interview here.

What you can do:

Write a letter to the editor. The House of Representatives has passed legislation to help protect our wildlife by improving safety and accountability in offshore drilling, but the Senate has yet to act. Help encourage your senators to act by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.

Support our work. Your tax-deductible donation will help us protect sea turtles and other wildlife from the dangers of reckless offshore drilling.

On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 3534, the CLEAR Act, in response to the ongoing oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.  The CLEAR Act reforms the structure of the offshore drilling oversight agency to avoid clear conflicts of interest; enhances the role of science, independent review, and other oversight agencies; and calls for the establishment of mandatory safety and environmental management standards. The CLEAR Act also fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund, helping to offset the inherent risk offshore drilling poses to our wildlife and important lands and waters, and allows national wildlife refuges to collect and retain funds for damages from oil spills for the first time ever.

Jamie Rappaport Clark, executive vice president of Defenders of Wildlife said that with the passage, “The House of Representatives voted to start reforming the offshore drilling industry and to protect and restore coastal communities, wetlands and wildlife and help prevent the next offshore oil disaster.

“The CLEAR Act overhauls the system that failed to prevent the BP disaster. And in securing critically needed funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the bill reinvests in our nation’s public lands and waters.

“When we authorize drilling off of America’s coasts, we allow the oil industry to hold the ecosystems and economies of entire regions in the palm of its hand. The CLEAR Act will help put the American people back in control. We now look to the Senate to pass their spill response bill next week to make these crucial reforms a reality.”

The legislation rides on the tail of a rocky week for the oil and gas drilling industry – with additional oil spills in Michigan, New Mexico and beleaguered Louisiana. Click here to read the full statement and learn more about the “Summer of Oil Spills.”

Courtesy FWS

Offshore drilling expert and Defenders senior policy advisor Richard Charter is back in Washington this week. Here’s what he’s been saying on the capped well,  BP’s response plan, new wellhead management and shutting down Arctic drilling.

Appearing on CTV National News earlier this week, Richard spoke about the recently capped wellhead. “It’s pathetic that it had to take 87 days, but we are glad it has stopped. We hope it continues.” But we must proceed with caution, he warns, “You do not want to rupture the seafloor or have oil come out around the lock preventor or around the wellhead and create a situation to which you have no response, ever.” (See Richard at 00:40).

In regards to a new $1 billion spill response fund put together by four Big Oil giants, Richard told the Houston Chronicle that “One billion dollars sure didn’t go very far in response to this spill.” BP so far has spent upwards of $4 billion on the Gulf spill and has committed an additional $20 billion to pay claims.  

Facing public criticism, the White House has tightened its grip over BP’s spill response. ”There’s a newfound precautionary approach that the administration is applying to wellhead management. It is forcing BP to monitor and respond to every bubble or seepage,” Richard said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

In this week’s good news, a federal court in Alaska called for a halt to oil and gas drilling activities in the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea until further environmentel analysis has been completed. Richard told Bryan Walsh of TIME Magazine, “If you cannot clean up the spill in the calm, flat seas of the Gulf, don’t call me if you have a spill in the broken sea ice of the Arctic Ocean. It would be ecological suicide.”

Be on the lookout for more as Richard continues to pound the pavement around Capitol Hill.

A federal district court of Louisiana decided today to lift the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by President Obama in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil industry groups challenged the moratorium on the grounds it caused irreparable economic harm to its business servicing deepwater drilling in the Gulf.

The ongoing Deepwater Horizon catastrophe has already cost billions of dollars to fishing and tourism industries in the Gulf of Mexico, in addition to harming priceless coastal habitat and wildlife.

 Jamie Rappaport Clark said, ”It is astonishing that even as oil continues to spew into the Gulf of Mexico, oil companies are fighting the Obama administration’s reasonable and measured pause on offshore drilling. We are extremely disappointed with today’s ruling but will continue to oppose the industry’s recklessness and disregard for American waters, natural resources and coastal communities.”

Read Defenders’ full statement.