ANWR Isn’t the Only Place Worth Protecting
Today, the Senate once again blocked drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This was the right decision, as drilling in ANWR threatens valuable biodiversity while failing to increase our energy independence. While our politicians are all focused on ANWR, though, let’s not forget about other critical areas around the Pacific Rim that are threatened by oil and gas extraction: the Beaufort Sea (offshore of ANWR), Bristol Bay, Russia’s Sea of Okhotsk offshore of Kamchatka and Magadan, Russia’s Sakhalin Island, China’s Bohai Sea… the list goes on and on.
The news we see every day is troubling. In the last week, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development caved in to Shell on the problematic Sakhalin-2 project, accepting Shell’s environmental documentation for public review – despite the Bank’s own admission that its policies have been violated. Korean National Oil Corporation announced its intention to explore and drill offshore of western Kamchatka – an area valuable for salmon and fisheries – despite widespread local opposition in Kamchatka.
Along the U.S. West Coast, we’ve made the right decision to limit offshore drilling. But let’s not push the damage from oil and gas drilling overseas. It’s high time that we changed our energy choices. We don’t need to be dependent on fossil fuels, and we certainly don’t need to build enormous new infrastructure in the form of Liquified Natural Gas terminals along our coast to make us even more dependent on foreign fossil fuels. We need to make a choice. And that choice should be to commit strongly to renewable energy. Let’s take all that money we would put into LNG terminals and public subsidies to the oil and gas industry and instead put it into renewable energy.
The news I get to see every day is also heartening. December is a particularly enjoyable month, as I write thank-you cards to our many supporters around the Pacific Rim. Together, we’re building a community of people throughout the Pacific Rim who understand that the Pacific Rim is not just an economic and trade region – it’s also an environmental and cultural region. We can’t do this work alone. But with your help, we can make sure that communities around the Pacific Rim are empowered to stand up for their environmental rights and interests. If you’re already a supporter, thank you – we can’t do this without you. If you’re not a supporter, join our community working to protect the living environment of the Pacific Rim.
I wish everyone the very best for the New Year.
For the Pacific Rim,
David Gordon
Tags: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
