Urge Biden to protect Arctic wildlife from oil and gas development

The good news is that President Biden has already issued an executive order temporarily blocking oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Now here’s the bad news: Unless Congress passes new legislation, the law still mandates oil and gas lease sales in the Refuge's coastal plain. Until we get rid of this mandate from the 2017 Tax Cut & Jobs Act, the polar bears, caribou, migratory birds and other wildlife who call the Arctic Refuge home are still in danger.

The vast majority of Americans support bold action to fight climate change. As the world grapples with the threat of global warming, we cannot allow more oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Refuge.

It’s time to protect Arctic wildlife once and for all. Urge President Biden to support an end to oil and gas development in the Arctic Refuge!

Message

President

DO NOT USE Joe

DO NOT USE Biden

Dear President Biden,

I strongly support protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas drilling. I commend you for supporting the Refuge by issuing an executive order which halted all oil and gas activities in this wild and untouched landscape. However, the work is not done. Your Administration and Congress must pass legislation repealing the 2017 legislative mandate to lease the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain to Big Oil.

Your administration is committed to tackling the climate crisis, and protecting the Arctic Refuge must be part of the equation. Arctic ecosystems simply cannot withstand increased fossil fuel production. In a region of the United States warming twice as fast as the rest of the globe, more oil and gas drilling would exacerbate harm to wildlife, landscapes and Indigenous communities currently facing escalating impacts of a rapidly warming climate. Climate change and biodiversity loss are intricately woven. We could lose a million species by mid-century if we do not take transformative action to curb climate change and other factors impacting biodiversity in the Arctic and across the globe.

The coastal plain provides vital habitat for a diversity of wildlife, including hundreds of species of birds that migrate through all 50 states, wolves, musk oxen and the Porcupine caribou herd, a species deeply connected to the culture and spirituality of the Indigenous Gwich’in Nation. Protecting this landscape is a matter of basic human rights for the Gwich’in who call the coastal plain “the sacred place where life begins.”

The refuge is also home to one of the world’s most imperiled polar bear populations, providing critical denning habitat for mother bears and their cubs. As climate change melts sea ice, mother polar bears are forced ashore to build their dens and give birth. Any oil and gas activities in the coastal plain are incompatible with the survival of this iconic species.

Two-thirds of Americans support protecting the Arctic Refuge. I urge you to support legislation to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge once and for all.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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