[PAA-Discuss] What Happened to "No New Drilling, " President Obama?

[Juli3 at aol.com]

(http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=4e/fwRWBuF4Gl9z3JM67/RU830gFh1Rk) 

 
(http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=wJq/8y2beZNA0IRTRmQorBU830gFh1Rk)  
He may have won votes with his campaign promises of  "no new drilling," but 
last week President Obama outdid good  old George W. Bush with his new Oil 
Addiction Plan for  America. The Obama administration's plan begins with  
exploring for oil this summer on illegal leases in the  Arctic Ocean and 
continues its path of destruction with a  host of new offshore oil and gas leases 
throughout the United  States in the coming years, including in the  Arctic.

The Arctic is already paying the price for our  addiction to oil and simply 
cannot handle more drilling. The  area Obama wants to open up to 
exploratory drilling this  summer is home to threatened polar bears, endangered 
bowhead  whales, beluga whales, walrus, seals, threatened spectacled  and S
teller's eiders, countless other birds, and more than 100  species of fish. Many of 
these species are already losing  their habitat and food to global warming 
and ocean  acidification. A single oil spill in this fragile  environment 
could spell catastrophe for the entire Arctic  ecosystem.

While President Obama had the foresight  to remove Alaska's Bristol Bay 
from the current drilling plan  because of its unique marine resources, the 
Chukchi and  Beaufort seas are just as important and equally fragile and  
should receive the same level of protection.

Please  take action now to hold President Obama to his promise of no  new 
drilling.
 
(http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=YSzpGhLaBl49EnX7qR9l3BU830gFh1Rk) _Click  here to find out more and take  action._ 
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If you have trouble following the  link, go to 
_http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2946_ 
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____________________________________

Sample letter:

Subject: No Drilling  in the Arctic

I write to comment on the Department of the  Interior's new Outer 
Continental Shelf Preliminary Revised Oil  and Gas Leasing Program 2007 - 2012 
(revised program)  announced by President Barack Obama and Interior Secretary Ken  
Salazar on March 31. My comments specifically focus on the  plan's impacts 
on the Arctic Ocean.

I commend the  removal of Bristol Bay from the revised program. As home to  
one of the world's richest fisheries and habitat for the  highly endangered 
north pacific right whale, Bristol Bay is a  national treasure that must be 
protected. However, I am very  disappointed that President Obama's proposal 
would allow  harmful exploratory drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas  
to move forward this summer. 

Like Bristol Bay, the  Chukchi and Beaufort seas are both biologically rich 
and  extremely fragile. They are home to America's only populations  of 
threatened polar bears, Pacific walrus, and many ice seal  species. These 
iconic species are quickly losing their sea-ice  habitat to global warming. It 
defies logic to open up this  fragile, melting environment to dirty, 
industrial oil and gas  development that will only add to the global warming  
imperiling the Arctic. 

Furthermore, I believe the  Chukchi leases being explored were issued 
illegally and should  therefore be revoked. You are correct that the Chukchi and  
Beaufort seas warrant further study, but conducting studies  while allowing 
exploration to proceed is irrational. In order  to truly protect the people 
and environment of the Arctic, you  must not allow exploration and 
development of the current  leases in the Arctic. 

Thank you.
 
____________________________________

Please  take action by May 3, 2010.

_Donate now to  support our work._ 
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Polar bear photo courtesy Wikimedia  Commons/Ansgar Walk.
This message was sent to  juli3 at aol.com. 
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