Department of Interior named "Critical Habitat for Oil Lobbyists"

The Department of Interior continues to drag its  feet on protecting polar bears as it moves full steam ahead with  plans to drill for oil in prime polar bear habitat. New oil leases are being offered in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, and oil companies are lining up to obtain licenses to drill.  Alaska is home to one-fifth of the world’s polar bears, and half of them live in the Chukchi Sea.  Drilling for oil in the Chukchi Sea will directly threaten polar bears with oil spills and other industrial disturbances that go along with the search, extraction and transportation of oil. But it won’t stop there. Once the oil is burned, it will exacerbate global warming, and that will accelerate the melting of the arctic sea ice that polar bears need to survive.  It’s a one-two punch that spells doom for Alaska’s polar bears.

It’s time to let the world know

Greenpeace activists have written letters, sued the administration, and held vigils  to pressure  the federal government to protect the polar bear.   Today activists returned to the Department of Interior and designated the building as ‘critical habitat for oil lobbyists’ to highlight the repeated delays and deception involved with the Department of Interior listing process for the polar bear. On one hand the administration is delaying Endangered Species Act protection for polar bears while on the other hand, it is selling off its habitat to the oil and gas industry. The Department of the Interior houses the Minerals Management Service which sells offshore oil and gas leases such as those in the Chukchi Sea, as well as the US Fish and Wildlife Service which is responsible for listing the polar bear under the ESA. 


View a slideshow of Greenpeace activists at the Department of Interior.

Back to the courtroom

Just before this peaceful protest, Greenpeace, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit  to force the US Fish and Wildlife Service to release its decision on listing the polar bear under the ESA.  The final decision on the listing was due on January 9th. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delayed the decision, allowing the Department of Interior to lease 29 million acres of prime polar bear habitat for oil drilling.  It’s time for the polar bear to be protected and the administration to stop handing its  habitat over to the oil companies.

The government’s own scientific studies indicate that two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population, including all of Alaska’s polar bears, may become extinct as early as 2050 due to global warming.