Defenders of Wildlife Blog

Should the government clamp a moratorium on new offshore oil and natural gas drilling? In a word – yes. Yes, this administration should immediately extend the current “suspension” on new offshore oil drilling. Yes, that moratorium should be expanded to include current and planned drilling operations in the Gulf of Mexico – where according to the New York Times, “at least seven new permits for various types of drilling and five environmental waivers have been granted” since President Obama ordered a suspension of new drilling on April 30. Yes, the moratorium should most certainly include the fragile Arctic seas, where Shell still plans to start drilling as early as this July, and the East Coast, parts of which President Obama opened to exploratory drilling earlier this year. Read the full story

One month after the Gulf oil spill disaster began, 14 major environmental groups joined together on a letter asking President Obama to ban offshore drilling in places off U.S. coasts that are not currently being drilled. One month after the BP Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, the well is continuing to gush thousands of barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico.  The groups called on the President to reverse his previously announced policy of expanding drilling off Florida, the Atlantic coast and Alaska and instead ban drilling in these places.  The President has the authority to ban drilling in new areas through a Presidential withdrawal.

Bob Irvin, Senior Vice President of Defenders of Wildlife said, “The continuing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has proven once again that oil companies cannot effectively protect our shores and coastal waters from the devastating effects of offshore oil and gas drilling. By halting any new drilling off of U.S. coasts, President Obama will demonstrate that our natural resources are more valuable than risky bids for dirty fossil fuels.”

See the full statement.

Read the letter to President Obama calling for a halt of any new drilling off of U.S. shores.

I have just returned from the Gulf of Mexico, where the growing disaster from the British Petroleum oil rig blowout threatens some of our most precious wildlife, fisheries and national wildlife refuges. Bearing witness to this epic environmental disaster as it slowly unfolds has been surreal to say the least. It seems impossible to believe that the same beautiful white sand beaches I explored could be blackened by oil in as soon as a few days. Read the full story

Faced with what threatens to become one of the greatest environmental disasters this country has ever seen, to demand anything less than a complete reevaluation by the administration of future offshore drilling plans would be to forfeit our rights as Americans and stakeholders in some of the nation’s most treasured lands.

In the days to come, we may be witness to the destruction of the some of the country’s most valuable coastal wildlife refuges. There are 39 national wildlife refuges along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, many of which lie in the likely path of the ever-spreading oil slick. These places, such as Breton National Wildlife Refuge, were created to protect wildlife such as brown pelicans, black skimmers, royal and Caspian terns, nesting sea turtles and American alligators. Damage caused to their homes by the oil will leave these species incredibly vulnerable.

Read the full story