Save the "Polar Bear Seas" from Drilling!

Dear Regional Director Goll,

I am deeply concerned about proposed oil and gas lease sales in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas -- among the last safe havens for America's threatened polar bears and a host of other species, such as endangered bowhead whales, beluga whales, walrus, seals and birds. These proposed lease sales (209, 212, 217 and 221) are the culmination of the Bush administration's headlong rush to open the Arctic Ocean to oil and gas development despite vast gaps in information. Such development in the Arctic Ocean will have serious adverse impacts on the region's wildlife and Alaska Native communities, both of which are already suffering from the dramatic consequences of climate change.

This is an opportunity for the Obama administration to return science to environmental decision-making. I urge you, Interior Secretary Salazar and President Obama to immediately halt these lease sales, take time to gather missing information about the Arctic Ocean and the potential impacts of oil and gas development there and develop a comprehensive conservation and energy plan for the region.

Please consider that this lease area of more than 73 million acres -- larger than the state of Arizona -- is home to an abundance of life. There is no place on earth suffering more from the effects of global warming. Moreover, the Bush administration estimated that there is a 40 percent chance of one or more major oil spills in the Chukchi Sea alone if development proceeds. There is no proven effective means of cleaning up spilled oil in the Arctic Ocean's icy waters, and a large spill could have catastrophic consequences for wildlife, especially polar bears, and Alaska Native communities.

More than 4 million acres of the Arctic oceans have already been opened for oil and gas development by the Bush administration. I urge the new administration to reverse this shortsighted and destructive policy. The oil and gas that may be extracted is a fraction of our nation's energy needs, but the environmental consequences could be catastrophic. Cancel the lease sales now.

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