Tell the Senate to restore protections to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
One of the most spectacular wildlife migrations in the world takes place each spring 和 summer on the coastal plain of America's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Some 200,000 caribou migrate hundreds of miles annually to give birth there. 数以百万计的候鸟聚集在那里筑巢. 北极熊和幼崽在沿海平原上筑巢过冬. 和, 因为这里有大量的野生动物, for thous和s of years the native Gwich’in people have depended on this biological jewel for survival, 以驯鹿群为中心的文化.
一种不负责任的冲动，在最后一片荒野中进行钻探
The coastal plain of the refuge is variously described as the “biological heart” of the Refuge 和 “America’s Serengeti,“因为在那里生活和迁徙的野生动物令人眼花缭乱. 从数以百万计的候鸟迁徙而来 50个州 和 六大洲到超过20万人 豪猪驯鹿群 (以豪猪河命名), 北极熊, 狼, muskoxen, 北极狐, 狼獾, 棕熊, 金雕, 苔原天鹅和雪鸮, 北极保护区的沿海平原是它们的重要栖息地 几十个品种.
Seeing the caribou move across the tundra can be an overwhelming experience. 作者特里·坦佩斯特·威廉姆斯在书中叙述 猎户座杂志 在她去保护区的路上看驯鹿. “Heads, antlers, backs, tails, legs, hooves, one caribou merges into another... 在冻土带上行走的动物络绎不绝.”
肯·马德森
The Arctic Refuge has qualities that simply can’t be replaced — a wildness 和 a vibrancy that is at once old 和 yet always new. 它拥有旧的宁静和新的生命. 在《韦德国际app》中," author Stephen Trimble argues eloquently why the Arctic Refuge should be allowed to fulfill the gr和 ambitions of 1964年荒野法. “我们的协议是这样的:我们不去管避难所, 我们把豪猪驯鹿留给它们的幼崽, 波弗特海北极熊的巢穴. 我们保护这个地方. 反过来，我们的生活也不那么贫困了. 我们睡着了，知道荒野有避难所, 和 at least one place remains where the ancestral richness of life survives."
北极保护区的海岸平原很可能是“美国的塞伦盖蒂”,” but it may also sit on top of underground reservoirs of oil (和 then again, 它可能不). 可悲的是, our society’s voracious appetite for oil imperils the entire immense wilderness l和scape 和 the vast network of wildlife that depends on it.
维克多·洛基通过Shutterstock.com
非理性的和毫无意义的
随着今天清洁能源的进步, 威胁北极熊的想法, 驯鹿和以驯鹿为生的当地哥威其人, 和 all the countless other species that call the refuge home for more oil feels both antiquated 和 foolhardy.
我们生活在一个清洁能源空前扩张的时代. 清洁能源革命已经如火如荼, with each of the last five years seeing the biggest additions to our national electric generating capacity 来自风能和太阳能. 把它和在 电池技术 和 电动汽车, 和 it is clear that the way we power our economy will continue to rely less each year on fossil fuels.
Some places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have always been too special to ruin, 并应保持其自然的原始状态. 在发展清洁能源技术的背景下, oil exploration 和 drilling in this wildlife refuge becomes irrational 和 pointless.
北极保护区目前面临的威胁
美国环境保护协会在华盛顿担任监督机构.C., keeping an eye on any legislation or policy that threatens the special places Americans love. Right now our public l和s team is actively engaged with a broad coalition focused on protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
In 2015, 奥巴马总统宣布北极保护区是“一个不可思议的地方”, 原始的, 不受干扰的, [支持]驯鹿, 和北极熊, 各种海洋生物, 无数种鸟和鱼, 几个世纪以来一直支持着许多阿拉斯加土著社区,并且第一次使它成为 官方立场 of the Department of the Interior to manage the coastal plain as wilderness, 并要求国会这样指定它.
2017年12月，国会通过了 特朗普总统签署 对我们国家的税法进行大规模改革. 账单里塞着一个 条款that requires the Department of the Interior to offer at least two lease sales for oil 和 gas development in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. 这逆转了几十年来的保护. In January 2021, the first lease sale was held 和 leases to 9 tracts of l和 were awarded.
1月20日, 2021 President Biden issued a temporary moratorium on all leasing activity in the refuge. The lease-holders still hold the leases but no additional permits will be issued for now.
如果任其发展下去，钻探将是毁灭性的. Heavy seismic equipment would scar the l和scape for decades 和 could crush polar dens before drilling even begins. Drilling itself comes with more equipment 和 heavy vehicles dragged over the tundra 和 pipelines crossing the calving ground.
我们如何保护北极国家野生动物保护区?
我们该如何保护这片神奇的土地?
现在: Environment America joined the Gwich’in Steering Committee 和 other environmental groups 提起诉讼 against the Trump administration to block oil 和 gas drilling in the Arctic Refuge. This lawsuit is still in progress 和 a favorable ruling could stop the current leases from moving forward.
Congress must pass 和 the president must sign a new tax bill removing the lease sale requirement passed in 2017.
在接下来的几个月里: We’re calling on Congress to designate the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a wilderness area, 永远禁止钻探. 为了实现这一点, we need to win enough hearts 和 minds to the premise that there are just some places too spectacular 和 special to ruin for oil.
Florian舒尔茨
一个永恒美丽的地方
We, 和数百万其他美国人一起, 相信永恒的美, history 和 culture of places like the Arctic Refuge are worth far more than the short-term value of any oil or gas we can extract from them. 目光短浅的定义就是把事情反过来看. Protecting special places like America’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will require us to act decisively 和 boldly.
Our success also depends on gaining support that transcends the partisan divide. 幸运的是, 这是一个可以团结猎人和徒步旅行者的事业, 钓鱼者、观鸟者, 土著部落和小企业, 以及学者和宗教领袖.