It's no secret that polar bears are in trouble. Global warming and habitat loss are driving these majestic animals to the brink of extinction.
Yet even as the government's own scientists have acknowledged these threats, the Bush/Cheney Administration has just announced oil and gas exploration plans that would disturb essential polar bear habitat and fuel America's dependence on fossil fuels that cause global warming.
Sign our petition to urge Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to delay the planned February 6th sale of oil and gas drilling rights in the Chukchi Sea until the impact on the area's polar bears can be adequately determined.
Stop the Chukchi Sea Oil & Gas Lease Sale
Dear Secretary Kempthorne,
As someone who is gravely concerned about the future of America’s struggling polar bears, I strongly urge you to delay the February 6th lease sale and all subsequent sales of offshore drilling rights in the Chukchi Sea.
Your department has proposed protecting polar bears under the Endangered Species Act, and there is broad scientific consensus that global warming and habitat loss are driving these majestic animals to the brink of extinction.
Yet, the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service is moving forward with oil and gas lease sales for drilling that would disturb essential polar bear habitat and fuel America’s dependence on fossil fuels that cause global warming. Polar bears will have a hard enough time surviving without the additional stresses associated with new drilling in the habitat they need to survive.
Scientists with the U.S. Geologic Survey predict that polar bears could disappear entirely from Alaska in the next 50 years. Oil companies that want to drill in polar bear habitat can wait. Our vanishing polar bears cannot.
I strongly urge you to delay the February 6th lease sale and all subsequent sales of offshore drilling rights in the Chukchi Sea. Thank you for considering my comments.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
