Sanders and Fellow Senators Urge President to End Alaskan Oil Drilling

[eridani]

http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/09/26/sanders-and-fellow-senators-urge-president-to-end-alaskan-oil-drilling/

While continuing to focus on the campaign trail, Sen. Bernie Sanders has not forgotten his duties as a sitting U.S. Senator. On Friday, Sanders and 11 fellow senators sent a letter to President Obama urging him to cease Shell’s oil drilling in the Arctic. Although the president has stated goals for controlling climate change, Sanders and his fellow senators have pointed out the utter hypocrisy in the Obama administration’s current policy.

In May, the Obama administration conditionally approved to allow Shell to begin drilling for oil off the coast of Alaska in the Arctic waters of the Chukchi Sea. A pristine marine habitat to a wide range of protected species, the Chukchi Sea is also home to roughly half of America’s polar bears.

But according to a federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) report published earlier this year, Shell has an estimated 75% chance of causing at least one massive oil spill over the course of the company’s 77-year lease. Due to its isolated location and harsh weather conditions, the Chukchi Sea is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world to drill oil. With no roads connecting to major cities, the closest Coast Guard station equipped to deal with a potential spill is located over 1,000 miles away from the site.

In a letter sent to the president on Friday and signed by 12 senators, including Al Franken, Patrick Leahy, Jeff Merkley, Richard Blumenthal, Ben Cardin, Brian Schatz, Martin Heinrich, Ed Markey, Cory Booker, Gary Peters, and Sheldon Whitehouse, Sanders pointed out that “opening up the Arctic Ocean to drilling poses serious risks to wildlife and natural resources, and the communities that depend on them. Oil companies like Shell have yet to demonstrate they possess the capacity to prevent and respond to oil spills in the unforgiving environment of the Arctic Ocean. Instead of opening a new carbon reserve within an invaluable ecosystem, the United States should use its position as Chair of the Arctic Council to discourage Arctic drilling and to promote Arctic Ocean safety, security and stewardship, all while guarding against the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change in this region.”

[JDPriestly]

1. I would like to see the tax incentives and breaks that oil companies now get completely

ended and all those incentives get transferred to truly renewable energy investment (and I would exclude nuclear energy from that definition because the nuclear waste is hazardous and there is no safe way at this time to dispose of it).

[Enthusiast]

2. I am so with you on that!