Alaska Wilderness League’s Post

There is an opportunity to prevent future Willow Projects and to protect a significant amount of sensitive and critical wildlife habitat. The Biden administration plans to increase protections for designated special areas of the Western Arctic reserve. If this plan is finalized, 10.6 million acres would be off-limits to oil and gas drilling with opportunities for more protections in the future. The finalized plan is expected to be announced in Spring of 2024. https://lnkd.in/eY9pu_5b

There's STILL TIME ⏰: stand up against all oil and gas activities on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In a big victory for the Arctic, the Biden administration recently canceled a set of legally flawed leases for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and proposed protections against future fossil fuel development across Arctic lands in Alaska. But the fight isn’t over yet. The door is still open to production of additional oil and gas across the Arctic that could extract many more billions of barrels of oil in the coming years. Companies such as ConocoPhillips and Hilcorp are developing large lease holdings across this region, and millions more acres remain open to potential oil and gas leasing in the future. Fossil fuel development in this irreplaceable ecosystem spoils habitat, risks oil spills and unleashes even more climate-wrecking emissions. Add your name to our petition to send a message to the Biden administration and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland thanking them for the progress toward protecting the Arctic and urge them to consider the STRONGEST possible protections for this region: https://lnkd.in/gjfPdmze #StandWithTheGwichin   #ProtectTheArctic #PreserveTheReserve Photo credit: Florian Schulz / protectthearctic.org

🚨 MORE AMAZING NEWS!! Today the Bureau of Land Management released stronger protections for the Western Arctic (officially called the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska). This new rule will put restrictions on oil and gas development and enhance the preservation of the Western Arctic's five Special Areas: Teshekpuk Lake, Colville River, Utokok Uplands, Peard Bay and Kasegaluk Lagoon. These areas hold immense significance for Indigenous communities, and feature invaluable habitats for wildlife and fish as well as intact lands and water. https://bit.ly/4b3UOmS

Collaboration amongst transboundary waters is a challenge regardless of where you are in the world. We need to look at basins from an overall watershed perspective and focus on how we increase collaboration in order to achieve our common, shared goals.

Bloody fossil fuel is soooo damn sustainable, so let it dump again into the Gulf of Mexiko. And I guess the responsible greedy managers have bribed greedy politicians and nothing will HAPPEN again... like usual! The standard dirty procedure!... ECOCIDE IS A CRIME, TIME TO PUT CRIMINALS BEHIND BARS! *** 1 million gallon oil leak in Gulf of Mexico detected by US Coast Guard Officials said the leak might be from the Main Pass Oil Gathering Company's (MPOG) pipeline system off the coast of New Orleans. At least 1.1 million gallons of oil has leaked into the Gulf of Mexico the United States Coast Guard detected on Friday. Officials said the leak might be from the Main Pass Oil Gathering Company’s (MPOG) pipeline system off the coast of New Orleans. MPOG carries about 80,000 barrels of oil per day from offshore wells to the coast of Plaquemines Parish. “The Coast Guard continues to oversee the coordinated effort to mitigate the impact of the oil discharge. The Unified Command is coordinating with federal, state and local agencies to ensure the safety of the public, protect the environment, and respond to the incident. There have been no reports of injuries or shoreline impacts at this time.” Coast Guard officials are determining if Third Coast Infrastructure, which owns MPOG, is responsible for the spill a few miles offshore, Causes.com reported. Source: https://lnkd.in/ef5GEUMJ Www.stopecocide.earth Www.klimaseniorinnen.ch Www.theoxygenproject.com Www.stopeacop.net Www.stopadani.com #CLIMATE_EMERGENCY #ACTNOW #SAVE_OUR_PLANET #TELLTHETRUTH #OUR_WORLD_IS_ON_FIRE

In the Western Arctic lies the United States’ largest expanse of public land, a stretch that holds immense cultural significance and provides habitat to countless wildlife. But you wouldn’t know it by this place’s official name: “the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.” But the Western Arctic is not just a place we find petroleum—and it doesn’t deserve to be thought of that way. Right now, it is critical that the administration releases the final rule to protect the reserve’s five special areas and surface resources. Read about those special areas, where they are located and what they protect. https://lnkd.in/e_abzT8a

The Alberta Tarsands Tarnation, where “U Can Pollute”; Proud to be Part of the Global Empire of Dying, Dangerous & Polluting Oil & Gas Wells?⚠️⛔️⚠️ An Empire of Dying Wells: Old oil & gas sites are a climate menace. Meet the company that owns more of America’s decaying wells than any other. By Zachary R. Mider and Rachel Adams-Heard October 12, 2021: Outside of hunting season, few people visit the Tri-Valley Wildlife Area in the rolling hills of southeast Ohio. When a couple of Bloomberg Green reporters showed up on a muggy June morning, the only sounds were birdsongs and the whirring of our infrared camera. We set out on foot and soon spotted the first of several rusty natural gas wells scattered across a broad meadow. Their storage tanks, half-covered with vines and brush, looked like the forgotten monuments of some lost civilization. There are hundreds of thousands of such decrepit oil and gas wells across the U.S., and for a long time few people paid them much mind. That changed over the past decade as scientists discovered the surprisingly large role they play in the climate crisis. Old wells tend to leak, and raw natural gas consists mostly of methane, which has far more planet-warming power than carbon dioxide. That morning in Ohio we pointed our camera at busted pipes, rusted joints, and broken valves, and we saw the otherwise invisible greenhouse gas jetting out. A sour smell lingered in the air. To Rusty Hutson, it smells like money. Hutson is the founder and chief executive officer of one of the strangest companies ever to hit the American oil patch and the reason for our four-day visit to the Appalachian region. While other oilmen focus on drilling the next gusher, Hutson buys used wells that generate just a trickle or nothing at all. Over the past four years his Diversified Energy Co. has amassed about 69,000 wells, eclipsing Exxon Mobil Corp. to become the largest well owner in the country. Investors love him. Since listing shares in 2017, Hutson’s company has outperformed almost every other U.S. oil and gas stock, swelling his personal stake to more than $30 million.

Protect the heart of Australia Sign our petition calling on Federal, State, and Territory governments to protect the Lake Eyre Basin, Australia’s beating heart. Why is the Lake Eyre Basin the beating heart of Australia? The Lake Eyre Basin covers almost one-sixth of Australia, and is like a big heart-shaped indent where water drains and collects in its lowest points. Comprising hundreds of wetlands, some spending years seemingly dry, before they are awakened with bustling life as rains bring needed water. When in flood, the Basin beckons an influx of birds seeking out this remarkable wetland for mass breeding. Huge flocks of Banded Stilts and Budgerigars provide an awe-inspiring spectacle. Hundreds of migratory shorebirds call these wetlands home, like the Critically Endangered Curlew Sandpiper and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. Birds hatched in the Basin replenish populations across the country, acting like a heart in the middle of this wide brown land. Lake Eyre Basin has remained in near-pristine condition, until now! Threats like fracking and gas wells have sadly been approved across the Basin, with more being proposed. Please sign our petition calling on the Commonwealth, State, and Territory governments to step up their protection of the Lake Eyre Basin. Help us protect the heart of Australia! https://lnkd.in/gMrcS4P9 @lakeeyrebasin Lake Eyre Basin Rangers #lakeeyre Lake Eyre

This year’s UN #WorldOceanDay theme is ‘awaken new depths’. Chuuk Lagoon is an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, where shipwrecks dating back to WW2 lie corroding and leaking toxic oil – threatening the #safety of this protected reef. Lloyd's Register Foundation is building a global coalition of experts to create technical standards and engage international bodies, to enable a more strategic response to the growing challenge of these potentially polluting wrecks. Explore now: https://loom.ly/ZRvHcYk

It’s been all hands on deck in the House this week after the House Appropriations Committee released guidance for federal spending requests with an especially tight deadline. The announcement gave members and their staff about a week to complete and submit requests for fiscal year 2025 federal funding, with programmatic and language requests due May 1 and community project funding (earmark) requests due May 3. New House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-OK-04) added to the chaos by announcing in a Dear Colleague letter that nonprofit organizations can no longer receive earmarks in the Transportation, Urban Housing and Development, and Related Agencies (T-HUD) bill. The House already provides members with fewer opportunities to offer earmarks than the Senate does; this move by Rep. Cole widens that gap. In other news: – At the White House Water Summit, the administration announced the America the Beautiful Freshwater Challenge, which sets a new national goal to protect, restore, and reconnect 8 million acres of #wetland and 100,000 miles of river and streams across the U.S. https://lnkd.in/gY4ntXsf – Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced a new five-year #offshorewind leasing schedule, which includes up to 12 potential offshore wind energy lease sales through 2028. Lease sales are anticipated in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, and the waters offshore of the U.S. territories. https://lnkd.in/dwmeV_3w – More than 80 conservation organizations sent a letter to House and Senate appropriators urging them to increase NOAA Fisheries’ budget for marine mammals, sea turtles, and other federally protected marine life from $175.5 million to $475.5 million. https://lnkd.in/gGMcU-br. – Congressional Estuary Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL-08) announced he will not seek reelection. https://lnkd.in/g_66zkBA Read more in this week's #oceanpolicy Roundup