The Chukchi Sea is located in the Arctic Ocean and is a pristine, nutrient rich area for wildlife such as bowhead and gray whales, walruses and polar bears. It is also home to many indigenous communities.
The US Department of the Interior sold offshore oil and gas leases to this vital region in 2008, but the potential damage of an oil spill to marine life there was underestimated, according to a recent ruling by the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Take action and tell US Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell to keep drilling out of America’s Arctic Ocean.
Covering nearly 30 million acres offshore from Alaska’s Arctic coast, the leased area is larger than the state of Pennsylvania. The size, remote location and extreme weather conditions, combined with a complete lack of infrastructure for oil spill response, make drilling in this area extremely dangerous for both marine life and people.
Please lend your voice and ask Secretary Jewell to reexamine all Arctic Ocean leasing decisions. Urge her to require that an entirely new environmental impact statement be prepared for the Chukchi Sea. With your help, we can keep America’s Arctic Ocean, and those who depend on it, safe.