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Keep O&G Rigs Out of America's Special Places
The Bush Administration has pulled out all the stops to ramp up oil and gas leasing on public lands, with a target of drilling more than 118,000 new wells within the next two decades. This accelerated level of drilling could mar upwards of one million acres of our public lands, and some of the places being targeted are irreplaceable for their solitude, wilderness and wildlife habitat.
We can and we must put pressure on the Bush Administration to rescind this misguided plan. Please use our letter below to send an urgent message to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne.
You may edit our letter below, then click on "Send this Message."
For more information, click on the "Tell me more" link.
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Keep O&G Rigs out of America's Special Places
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
I understand that the Bureau of Land Management and oil and gas industry plan to drill more than 118,000 new wells on public lands in the West over the next two decades.
This alarming concentration on oil and gas development comes with a huge price-tag of degraded wildlife habitat and polluted air and water. At risk are municipal watersheds, proposed wilderness, and remarkable places like Wyoming's Upper Green River Valley, an irreplaceable big game migration corridor.
This shortsighted plan to benefit Industry comes at a time when the courts, the GAO and even the Bureau of Land Management have indicated that leasing cannot take place on such a scale and be done responsibly.
I want you to know that I oppose this wanton leasing program and I call on you to put a stop to it. Yes, there are places in America where oil and gas development can take place, but those areas must be carefully selected and developed with the highest environmental safeguards.
America needs an energy policy that will wean us from our dependence on fossil fuels by encouraging the more efficient use of our energy resources and the development of clean and safe alternative technologies.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
October 18, 2006
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The Bush Administration’s “lease and drill everything” policy is aimed at opening some of our most fragile places to oil and gas development. This report identifies 17 public lands that should not be developed, outlines the threat to these areas, and what should be done to protect them.
Areas that are Too Wild To Drill:
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska
Teshekpuk Lake, Alaska
Carrizo Plains National Monument, California
Clear Fork Divide, Colorado
Grand Mesa Slopes, Colorado
HD Mountains Roadless Area, Colorado
Roan Plateau, Colorado
Vermillion Basin, Colorado
Rocky Mountain Front, Montana
Valle Vidal, New Mexico
Otero Mesa, New Mexico
Little Missouri National Grassland, North Dakota
Utah’s Red Rock Wilderness, Utah
Beartooth Front, Wyoming
Bridger-Teton National Forest’s Wyoming Range, Wyoming
Red Desert, Wyoming
Upper Green River Valley, Wyoming
Why these areas should be protected from drilling:
The places are of tremendous value to local communities and to all Americans.
Although the above list is by no means comprehensive, these high-profile public lands have immeasurable environmental and recreational value and are notable for the immediacy and gravity of the threat posed by drilling.
Big oil already has tremendous access to our public lands
Approximately 36 million acres of onshore public lands are under lease for oil and gas development.
The number of oil and gas wells is increasing at an astonishing rate
There are now more than 63,000 producing oil and gas wells on the public lands and nearly double that amount – at least 118,000 new wells – are planned for Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and New Mexico alone.
Drilling is bad for the environment
Full-field oil and gas development entails production facilities, staging areas, drill pads, and hundreds of miles of pipelines and roads which cause noise, water, air, and light pollution. For wildlife, the development fragments their habitat into increasingly smaller and less usable areas, until animals can no longer survive in these areas at all.
The government is supposed to guard our public lands
The Bureau of Land Management’s increased oil and gas permitting activity “has lessened BLM's ability to meet its environmental protection responsibilities,” according to a 2005 report from the Government Accountability Office
Citizens want to preserve the West’s last great places
A diversity of voices -- conservationists, hunters, anglers, ranchers, elected officials – are beginning to speak out on behalf of protecting areas from drilling, but are often ignored.
Drill responsibly as part of a balanced energy policy.
We don’t dispute that there are places where it is appropriate to drill, but it must be done responsibly and at a slower pace, and energy efficiency, renewable energy, and conservation must play larger roles in the nation’s energy policy.
Learn more at: http://www.wilderness.org/OurIssues/Energy/TooWildToDrill.cfm
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