Arctic Ocean 101 amazonaws com
Arctic Ocean Offshore Development 101 America's Arctic is a national treasure, and the Arctic Ocean is home to many of our nation's most beloved wildlife, including polar bears, walrus, ice seals, bowhead whales, beluga whales and more.
2015 – Turning Point in the Arctic Ocean Over the past decade, Shell Oil Company and others have invested heavily in an Arctic oil and gas program. But following its disastrous exploration season in 2012 and a second failed attempt in 2015, Shell elected to pull out of Alaska ‘for the foreseeable future.’ Other major companies have also opted out of their Arctic programs. Shell has, however, requested to extend its current Arctic Ocean leases that are set to expire in 2017 and 2020. Meanwhile, in January, President Obama took bold action and withdrew specific areas of the Arctic Ocean from oil and gas leasing in order to both protect important ecological areas and protect subsistence resources and access to those resources. The areas withdrawn include Hanna Shoal as well as other critical migration and subsistence use areas. Science tells us that Hanna Shoal in the Chukchi Sea is a feeding stronghold for ice-dependent wildlife like the Pacific walrus, polar bear, gray whale, bearded seal and ringed seal. The Chukchi Sea migration corridor serves as an important area of travel for the endangered bowhead whale and thousands of spotted seals, and provides important walrus haul-out areas. And the protection of subsistence use areas will help ensure the food security and cultural health of coastal communities. These withdrawals lead the way to setting aside other potential key biological areas in the Arctic Ocean. The Obama administration also in 2015 announced the cancelation of all current planned federal lease sales for both the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in 2016/17. However, the draft proposed Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing program for 2017-2022 includes new lease sales within both seas after 2017. The high likelihood of a major oil spill combined with increased impacts associated with climate change makes removing new Arctic Ocean leases from the next 5-year plan the right next step to further protect the Arctic and our climate.
Climate Change Impacts The United States made a promise in Paris to keep our rising temperatures from surpassing dangerous levels, and no place has potentially more to lose due to climate change than the Arctic. The Arctic is experiencing the effects of climate change at twice the rate of the rest of the world, and what impacts the Arctic also impacts the rest of the world. Exploiting reserves in the Arctic Ocean has the potential to release an additional 15.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere if burned. Development in the Arctic Ocean is not only riskier and more expensive than projects in less remote locales, but if we want to reach our goal of staying under disastrous global average temperatures, we must leave the Arctic Ocean (and the fossil fuel reserves beneath it) untouched.
The Bottom Line:
Shell’s departure from the Arctic and the increasing climate change impacts in the region give the Obama administration ample reason to take all Arctic leasing off the table for good and protection the Arctic Ocean from future industrial development. For more information: Contact Leah Donahey at Alaska Wilderness League at 202-544-5205 or [email protected]
www.AlaskaWild.org
February 2016
2015 – Turning Point in the Arctic Ocean Over the past decade, Shell Oil Company and others have invested heavily in an Arctic oil and gas program. But following its disastrous exploration season in 2012 and a second failed attempt in 2015, Shell elected to pull out of Alaska ‘for the foreseeable future.’ Other major companies have also opted out of their Arctic programs. Shell has, however, requested to extend its current Arctic Ocean leases that are set to expire in 2017 and 2020. Meanwhile, in January, President Obama took bold action and withdrew specific areas of the Arctic Ocean from oil and gas leasing in order to both protect important ecological areas and protect subsistence resources and access to those resources. The areas withdrawn include Hanna Shoal as well as other critical migration and subsistence use areas. Science tells us that Hanna Shoal in the Chukchi Sea is a feeding stronghold for ice-dependent wildlife like the Pacific walrus, polar bear, gray whale, bearded seal and ringed seal. The Chukchi Sea migration corridor serves as an important area of travel for the endangered bowhead whale and thousands of spotted seals, and provides important walrus haul-out areas. And the protection of subsistence use areas will help ensure the food security and cultural health of coastal communities. These withdrawals lead the way to setting aside other potential key biological areas in the Arctic Ocean. The Obama administration also in 2015 announced the cancelation of all current planned federal lease sales for both the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in 2016/17. However, the draft proposed Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing program for 2017-2022 includes new lease sales within both seas after 2017. The high likelihood of a major oil spill combined with increased impacts associated with climate change makes removing new Arctic Ocean leases from the next 5-year plan the right next step to further protect the Arctic and our climate.
Climate Change Impacts The United States made a promise in Paris to keep our rising temperatures from surpassing dangerous levels, and no place has potentially more to lose due to climate change than the Arctic. The Arctic is experiencing the effects of climate change at twice the rate of the rest of the world, and what impacts the Arctic also impacts the rest of the world. Exploiting reserves in the Arctic Ocean has the potential to release an additional 15.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere if burned. Development in the Arctic Ocean is not only riskier and more expensive than projects in less remote locales, but if we want to reach our goal of staying under disastrous global average temperatures, we must leave the Arctic Ocean (and the fossil fuel reserves beneath it) untouched.
The Bottom Line:
Shell’s departure from the Arctic and the increasing climate change impacts in the region give the Obama administration ample reason to take all Arctic leasing off the table for good and protection the Arctic Ocean from future industrial development. For more information: Contact Leah Donahey at Alaska Wilderness League at 202-544-5205 or [email protected]
www.AlaskaWild.org
February 2016
