Petition Pimping: Big Oil Targets Alaska
Protect Wildlife in Bristol Bay from Oil Drilling
I am writing to urge you to keep the moratorium on drilling in Alaska's Bristol Bay.
The Bristol Bay is home to the threatened Steller Sea Lion and critical habitat for the endangered Northern Pacific Right Whale -- a creature still recovering from centuries of whaling. It is also the world's largest Sockeye Salmon run and brings in $500 million annually in snow crab, cod, sole and other commercial fisheries.
After the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill, your father, President George H. W. Bush, wisely placed a moratorium on drilling in these waters. Lifting this moratorium -- as you seem to be planning -- would threaten wildlife in this precious part of the Pacific, including valuable fisheries vital to the economy.
The short-term gains brought by new leasing in these sensitive waters do not out-weigh the risk of long-term damage from any potential disaster that comes with oil drilling.
It is time to go beyond fossil fuels and reach for a cleaner, safer energy future, bolstered by alternative energy sources and greater energy efficiency.
Please do not lift the moratorium on oil exploration and drilling in one of our most precious and valuable places.
I am writing to urge you to keep the moratorium on drilling in Alaska's Bristol Bay.
The Bristol Bay is home to the threatened Steller Sea Lion and critical habitat for the endangered Northern Pacific Right Whale -- a creature still recovering from centuries of whaling. It is also the world's largest Sockeye Salmon run and brings in $500 million annually in snow crab, cod, sole and other commercial fisheries.
After the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill, your father, President George H. W. Bush, wisely placed a moratorium on drilling in these waters. Lifting this moratorium -- as you seem to be planning -- would threaten wildlife in this precious part of the Pacific, including valuable fisheries vital to the economy.
The short-term gains brought by new leasing in these sensitive waters do not out-weigh the risk of long-term damage from any potential disaster that comes with oil drilling.
It is time to go beyond fossil fuels and reach for a cleaner, safer energy future, bolstered by alternative energy sources and greater energy efficiency.
Please do not lift the moratorium on oil exploration and drilling in one of our most precious and valuable places.
Labels: big oil, conservation, environment
posted by Virgil Libertas at 7:50 PM
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