{"id":10441,"date":"2015-06-22T09:17:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-22T09:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www-prod.greenpeace.org\/usa\/?page_id=10441"},"modified":"2024-11-21T09:22:23","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T09:22:23","slug":"stopping-offshore-drilling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/usa\/protect-the-arctic\/stopping-offshore-drilling\/","title":{"rendered":"Stopping Offshore Drilling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As sea ice melts, open water in the Arctic makes oil extraction even easier. For corporations that have profited off of fossil fuels, that\u2019s great news, but for the rest of us it\u2019s devastating.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

\"Polar
Activists in kayaks raise a banner reading “sHellNo.org Arctic Drilling = Climate Chaos” as Shell’s Polar Pioneer drill platform moves across Elliott Bay into the Port of Seattle where Shell is preparing its drilling equipment for oil exploration in the Alaskan Arctic.
\u00a9 N. Scott Trimble \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

In September 2015, Shell retreated<\/a> from its Arctic Ocean drilling operations, and in October 2015 the Obama administration announced plans to remove the Arctic from leasing opportunities<\/a> for the next two years. But the Arctic Ocean still isn\u2019t off limits for Shell or another oil company to move in and try to drill at a later date, especially with the former CEO of Exxon Rex Tillerson as Donald Trump’s Secretary of State. <\/p>\n\n

Now is the time to demand world leaders close the door on offshore Arctic oil extraction — for good.<\/p>\n\n

In 2016, Arctic sea ice reached its fourth-lowest extent<\/a> on record, continuing a stark downward trend. The lowest extent of Arctic sea ice on record was in 2012 and for the past eight years ice has continuously been melting at record rates.<\/p>\n\n

If you ask the corporations that have profited off of fossil fuels, Arctic warming is great news. As sea ice melts, open water in the Arctic makes oil extraction possible where it wasn\u2019t previously. There is a new oil rush, and it is happening at the top of the world. <\/p>\n\n

An Arctic Ocean oil rush would be nothing short of disastrous. Not only would more oil unleash even more global warming, it would put fragile ecosystems at greater risk from oil spills. And in a place where conditions are harsh and forbidding, chances of cleaning up a spill are slim to none.<\/p>\n\n

Make no mistake, Shell might have pulled out, the entire global oil industry is chomping at the bit to get its drills into the Arctic Ocean, too. The Russian giant Gazprom is already drilling in Russian waters. Exxon, empowered by the Trump administration, is looking to follow suit. <\/p>\n\n

That\u2019s why we\u2019re continuing to keep the pressure on, demanding that leaders around the world take swift action to keep all Arctic offshore oil in the ground, not just for the next two years, but forever.<\/p>\n\n

5 Reasons Not to Let Oil Companies Anywhere Near the Arctic<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Shell’s repeated failures trying to drill in the Arctic are instructive for any oil company. Despite sinking $7 billion into its Arctic schemes, three years of activism and 7 million people emphatically proved to Shell that Arctic oil is the wrong move. <\/p>\n\n