Citing Environmental and Wildlife Damage, More Than 1,000 Scientists
Urge President Not to Drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
50 Minnesota Scientists on Letter Urging 'Permanent Protection' of Refuge
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 1,000 leading U.S. and
Canadian scientists, including 50 from Minnesota, called on President Bush
today to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling. In a
letter to the President, the scientists questioned assertions that oil could
be safely extracted from the Refuge and urged President Bush to "support
permanent protection of the coastal plain's significant wildlife and
wilderness values."
The scientists said oil development could seriously harm caribou, polar
bears, muskoxen and snow geese -- among other wildlife. They warned it could
disrupt the fragile ecosystem of the coastal plain, which they said could lead
to even more widespread injury to wildlife and its habitat. The signers also
categorically rejected the notion that the impacts of drilling could be
confined to a limited footprint, as pro-drilling forces claim, noting that the
effects of oil wells, pipelines, roads, airports, housing facilities,
processing plants, gravel mines, air pollution, industrial noise, seismic
exploration and exploratory drilling would radiate across the entire coastal
plain of the Arctic Refuge.
"The coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge encompasses 1.5
million acres of key wildlife habitat vital to the integrity of the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge. We urge you, Mr. President, to permanently protect
the biological diversity and wilderness character of the coastal plain of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from future oil and gas development," the
letter concludes.
The scientists who signed the letter are experts in the fields of ecology,
wildlife and conservation biology, natural resources management and cultural
anthropology. They include Edward O. Wilson, winner of the National Medal of
Science and two Pulitzer Prizes for his landmark books on social biology.
"Hundreds of scientists are telling President Bush that throwing the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge open to oil companies will harm wildlife and
permanently disrupt the wild nature of this unique place. It simply does not
make sense to destroy the Arctic Refuge for oil that won't lower prices and
won't make a noticeable dent in our dependency on foreign energy, when it's so
much easier to get the same amount of energy through common-sense conservation
steps," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife.
For a copy of the letter text and list of signers, go to
http://www.defenders.org/newsroom
Defenders of Wildlife is a leading nonprofit conservation organization
recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and
its habitat. With more than 480,000 members and supporters, Defenders of
Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues. To stay current
on hot topics in wildlife conservation, subscribe to DENlines
(http://www.defenders.org/den), Defenders of Wildlife's electronic update and
action alert network.
SOURCE Defenders of Wildlife
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Related links:
http://www.defenders.org
CONTACT:
William Lutz, +1-202-772-0269, or Brad
DeVries, +1-202-772-0237, both of Defenders of Wildlife
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