Mrs. Claus: "Ho!Ho!Ho!...Shell has got to go!

Hi Katalusis and Facebook friends,

In case you didn't notice, the winter solstice 2014 began on Sunday, December 21 at 6:03 EST, marking the shortest day of the year. So one of our Christmas gifts on December 25 will be a few minutes more of daylight.  And I'll look forward to those gradually expanding hours of daylight until suddenly I'll get home before dark after dashing into town at 3:30 or 4:00 p.m. to pick up a few groceries.

And speaking of Christmas, Mrs. Claus is getting into the act up there at the North Pole - hey, I just got an email from her:


Ho! Ho! Ho...Shell has got to go!
1 message

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Mrs. Claus, Alaska Wilderness League	Tue, Dec 23, 2014 at 9:57 AM
Reply-To: action@alaskawild.org To: Virginia Bergman
Dear Virginia, Help us stand up to Big Oil and protect Arctic wildlife! Be a hero for polar bears, walrus, whales, caribou and other Arctic animals this holiday season. Donate to Alaska Wilderness League to help keep Shell out of the Arctic Ocean in 2015.  We’re halfway to our $20,000 goal – please give what you can to help us hit our target!! *Your gift will be doubled! Lots of people know that Santa keeps track of who’s naughty or nice. But did you know that as Santa and I sit up here in the North Pole watching our ice melt, he and I keep another list? It’s our list of heroes. And you’re on it. Why? Because we know that you’ve joined Alaska Wilderness League in standing up to Shell Oil and its Big Oil buddies. You’ve taken action to protect wild lands and waters essential to the Arctic creatures we love. Will you help again today? You’ve spoken up for polar bears in America’s Arctic, and for the caribou of the Porcupine Caribou Herd who birth their calves every year on the Refuge’s Coastal Plain (and happen to be good buddies with my pal, Rudolph). And for Arctic walrus, which have been fleeing to land further from their food sources because of sea ice melt. Trust me, you’ll never find these guys speaking up for themselves in Washington – they’re positively terrified of airplanes. And yet the League needs your help again. Can you donate today to Alaska Wilderness League and help them continue the fight for Alaska’s wild public lands and waters? Thanks to a generous donor, your donation will be doubled! Shell has submitted larger, noisier and dirtier drilling plans aimed at the very Arctic waters where polar bears, walrus and endangered bowhead whales are struggling to survive. You’d think the company would have learned after all its crashing and burning in 2012, but instead of addressing its mistakes, Shell is claiming its disasters were actually part of a successful season! Help stop Shell and protect polar bears, walrus, whales and our Arctic home. Together, we can put a big lump of coal in Shell’s stocking this year. Thank you! - Mrs. Claus P.S.  We’re halfway to our $20,000 goal – please give what you can to help us get there! Privacy Policy - Unsubscribe

A plea for help from the Alaska Wilderness League

The Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling rig is engulfed in flames before eventually sinking. US  Coast Guard photo taken on Wed. April 21. Public domain.

 

The biggest threat to the global environment has to be the proliferation of nuclear power plants, think Fukushima, and the continued expansion of offshore drilling – remember the Gulf oil spill? In the meantime corporate greed delays development of readily available solar and wind power.

The Obama Administration is waffling again on offshore drilling. Read this letter I just received from the Alaska Wilderness League and take a minute to join me in voicing your protest:

Dear Virginia,

After last year’s BP Deepwater Horizon disaster, President Obama stood before the American people and promised safer, cleaner offshore drilling. But just a couple weeks ago, a draft plan for offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. waters over the next five years was released by the Obama administration that includes potential drilling in America’s pristine and fragile Arctic Ocean - despite the fact that there’s no proven way to clean up a spill in the Arctic’s extreme, remote conditions. This rush to drill in America’s Arctic Ocean fails to meet President Obama’s promises. Instead, it looks a lot like the fast and loose decision making of the past.

Now, President Obama has asked for your input on his first offshore drilling program before it becomes final. When it comes to the Arctic, the president’s proposed draft plan can be only be characterized as business as usual – but there’s still time to make our voices heard. Speak out now and tell President Obama to keep Arctic drilling out of the final version.

Will you sign our letter asking President Obama to leave the Arctic out of the final offshore drilling program?

Drilling in the Arctic is extremely risky because of pervasive sea ice, 20-foot swells, hurricane-force winds, months-long darkness and more. The truth is that no technology exists to clean up a spill in these “Mission Impossible” conditions – and Coast Guard officials have described their response capability in the Arctic as “starting from zero.” A spill would devastate the many species that rely on the Arctic Ocean to survive - including polar bears, birds and whales, as well as the Inupiat people of Alaska’s Arctic coast

If President Obama rubber stamps this risky offshore Arctic drilling scheme, he could have the next major oil spill disaster, and the devastation of a marine ecosystem that is vital to health of our planet, on his hands. But if we all speak out together, we can make sure he hears our call for offshore drilling plan that meets his promises of safer, cleaner offshore drilling and doesn’t include risky Arctic drilling. The American people expect real change – not business as usual.

Will you speak out for polar bears and ask President Obama to leave the Arctic out of the final offshore drilling program?

Thanks for all you do.

Cindy Shogan
Executive Director
Alaska Wilderness League