http://www.ktvz.com/news/merkley-reintroduces-bill-to-block-arctic-ocean-drilling/469186770
Merkley reintroduces bill to block Arctic Ocean drilling
Opening new areas 'height of irresponsibility'
By: KTVZ.COM news sources
Posted: Apr 28, 2017 06:02 PM PDT
Updated: Apr 28, 2017 06:02 PM PDT
WASHINGTON - In response to President Trump’s executive orders removing
protections and moving to reopen risky offshore drilling, Senator Jeff
Merkley, D-Ore., on Friday reintroduced the Stop Arctic Ocean Drilling
Act, a major piece of legislation to permanently protect the Arctic from
offshore drilling.
The legislation would prevent any new or renewed leases for the
exploration, development, or production of oil, natural gas, or any
other mineral in the Arctic Ocean planning area.
“Opening up new areas to oil exploration in the Arctic at a time when we
are already dealing with the devastating impacts of climate change is
the height of irresponsibility. The Trump administration’s reckless
efforts to open a vast new source of carbon pollution would threaten
local communities, resources and ecosystems, while exacerbating the
climate change already damaging our economy and environment,” said
Merkley. “The Arctic is much too fragile to withstand the type of oil
spill that would be inevitable if drilling proceeds. In order to prevent
environmental catastrophe, we must put the Arctic Ocean completely and
permanently off limits to drilling.”
The Department of the Interior estimates that there is a 75 percent
chance of a large oil spill, exceeding 42,000 gallons, should drilling
leases in the Arctic be developed. The Arctic has one of the world’s
most delicate ecosystems, as well as some of the most extreme and
dangerous navigational conditions, severely limiting ability to respond
to an oil spill or accident. To date, there has not been a successful
oil and gas operation in the Arctic Ocean. Shell’s initial 2012 venture
into the Arctic resulted in an abandoned oil rig and a Coast Guard
operation to save eight lives.
The Arctic is also home to endangered species such as bowhead whales,
polar bears and ringed seals, as well as invaluable and fragile
ecosystems that are critical to local fisheries, indigenous populations
and subsistence hunters. Drilling operations in the Arctic Ocean will
threaten these species and communities, all for oil that will set back
efforts to transition to a clean energy economy.
Because of these costs and dangers, the Bureau of Ocean Energy
Management removed Arctic Ocean leases from its five-year program for
oil and gas development on the Outer Continental Shelf. Additionally,
former President Obama, in conjunction with actions by the Canadian
government, moved to permanently protect large areas of the Arctic Ocean
from offshore drilling. However, President Trump has already signaled a
fossil-fuel focused energy plan and today explicitly pledged to increase
offshore oil and gas drilling.
The truth is, we cannot afford to continue burning fossil fuels for
decades upon decades if we want to maintain a safe environment for our
children, Merkley said in a news release. The worst impacts of climate
change will happen if we allow global warming to exceed 2 degrees
Celsius, or almost 4 degrees Fahrenheit. The world must transition
aggressively and rapidly away from conventional fossil fuels and toward
the use of renewable energy, and we certainly cannot continue to push
new, dangerous fossil fuel development.
The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ),
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Senator Ben
Cardin (D-MD), Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Senator Gary Peters (D-MI)
and Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA).
Senator Merkley first introduced the Stop Arctic Ocean Drilling Act in
July 2015. In June of that year, Senator Merkley led a group of Senators
in authoring a letter to President Obama urging the administration to
rescind Shell Oil Company’s conditional Exploration Permit in the
Chukchi Sea. Senator Merkley wrote that new lease sales in the Chukchi
Sea and Arctic Ocean are an unnecessary risk that threatens local
communities, fragile ecosystems, and efforts at climate change mitigation.
A PDF of the Stop Arctic Drilling Act of 2017 is available here.
https://www.merkley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/JAC17252.pdf