Trump's Plan for Finding Oil in Alaska May Put Polar Bears at Risk

[Rhiannon12866]

Fears of crushed polar bears spurred shift to aerial surveys

Trump administration won’t vet impact of overhead flights


Concern that heavy machinery rolling across an Alaskan wilderness in search of oil would crush some polar bears to death stopped the Interior Department from approving a seismic survey in the area earlier this year.

But the alternative -- a low-flying plane making frequent passes over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge -- could still disturb polar bears, seals and calving caribou, according to conservationists and the Interior Department’s own experts.

Despite the risks, the Trump administration has no plans to vet the environmental impacts of the planned aerial survey, designed to arm oil companies with geophysical data to help them figure out the most promising locations to drill, and how much they should bid. The Interior Department’s hands-off approach is described in newly obtained documents and by people briefed on the matter who asked not to be named amid private deliberations.

“Low-flying aircraft can cause caribou to flee, causing disruption and harm during these sensitive periods,” Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management said in an April 23 letter to CGG Canada Services Ltd., the company seeking to do the work. The agency also warned CGG of the risk that the flights could drive polar bears to flee the coastline -- a possible violation of U.S. law barring the harassment of marine mammals.

Scientists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also raised concerns within the Interior Department about the planned surveillance and urged more review because of the potential impact on protected animals, according to two people familiar with the matter. Those concerns have not yet been heeded.


Much more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-10/polar-bears-new-threat-trump-s-plan-for-finding-oil-in-alaska?srnd=premium



Polar bear and a cub in Alaska. Photographer: Steven Kazlowski/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

[Liberty Belle]

1. One word: SUE!

How fast can the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, etc. get to the courthouse?

[Bluepinky]

2. Why should fat Donnie care? Putin told him to look for oil in Alaska, so that's what he'll do.

This is why we have to get him out ASAP. If we wait too long, there’s not going to be anything left to save.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. My thoughts exactly.

And then we have President Carter - who made history with the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 - which provided varying degrees of special protection to over 157,000,000 acres of land and more than doubled the size of our National Park System.

[Bluepinky]

4. Carter and Trump are polar opposites.

One is an intelligent, thoughtful, compassionate philanthrope and the other is a selfish, whiny, unethical, attention-seeking racist/misogynist.

One creates beauty for the benefit of all and the other creates chaos and destruction to benefit himself.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Well said.

It still boggles the mind how any American could possibly cast a vote for Trump - and I've often thought how as much as we're sickened by his actions, how much more it must disturb our former presidents who served to do the best for the people of this country, like Jimmy Carter.