Dear Katy, Donald Trump and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke made a catastrophic decision to sell out the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas drilling. Now the first company is lining up to profit. SAExploration recently applied for a permit to conduct seismic testing for oil in the Arctic Refuge.1 Seismic testing is brutal. Ninety thousand pound "thumper trucks" would send shock waves deep into the ground, disturbing polar bear dens and other critical habitat in the Refuge.2 And it could start as early as next month. The big oil giants are used to making headlines, but little-known companies like SAExploration usually fly under the radar – they are not expecting negative attention from activists. We need to show SAExploration that the company will face massive backlash if it moves forward with seismic testing. Tell SAExploration: Do not conduct seismic testing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Click here to sign the petition. The Arctic Refuge includes more than 19 million acres of protected land in northeastern Alaska, and it is home to polar bears, caribou, moose and hundreds of species of migratory birds. It is sacred land to the Gwich'in people, who live just outside the refuge and subsist on migrating caribou. Seismic testing is the first step to drilling in the refuge. It is a destructive process that would harm the Arctic tundra's delicate ecosystem for decades – or even permanently – even if oil and gas are never found.3 Seismic testing threatens the main calving ground for the Porcupine caribou herd and the cultural future of the indigenous Gwich'in people. SAExploration's heavy machinery may also disturb mother polar bears and their cubs – or even run them over in their underground dens. At a time when scientists are urging us to keep oil in the ground to protect our climate, seismic testing in the Arctic would destroy an irreplaceable and sacred place – all for short-term profit. SAExploration needs to hear that seismic testing in the Arctic will make them infamous – for undermining the human rights of the Gwich'in Nation, harming threatened polar bears and destroying our country's last great wilderness. Our friends at the Sierra Club and the Alaska Wilderness League are calling on us to join them in protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.4 Tell SAExploration to pull their application for testing in the Refuge now. We need to stop this climate, environmental and cultural catastrophe now, before it's too late. Tell SAExploration: Do not conduct seismic testing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/saexploration?t=7&akid=30666%2E12967895%2ETwDZ5U Thanks for fighting back, Brandy Doyle, Campaign Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Lorraine Chow, "Feds Receive First Application to Explore ANWR for Oil," EcoWatch, May 31, 2018.
- Ibid.
- Chris D'Angelo, "The Arctic Refuge Still Bears Scars From Oil Exploration In The 1980s," Huffinton Post, Feb. 9, 2018.
- David Thompson, "Take Action," Gwich'in Steering Committee, Sept. 7, 2016.
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