TAKE ACTION

 On the eve of the one-year anniversary of the tax act that opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) in preparation for holding an oil and gas lease sale on the ecologically sensitive Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2019. 

 by 
1. submit your comment
to Oppose drilling in the Arctic Refuge by March 13

HERE

Reference: DOI-BLM-AK-0000-2018-0002-EIS (COASTAL PLAIN OIL AND GAS LEASING EIS)
For more information, see: 
Details on Bureau of Land Management Page
Story covering this issue
Update on comment period deadline extension

2. Call Senator Gardner today!
​Tell him that we won’t forget his vote.
​
​​(202) 224-5941

​Once America's last great wilderness is opened to drilling, it can never be brought back. 

Photo: Florian Schulz

COLORADO BUSINESSES ASKED SENATOR GARDNER TO PROTECT THE ARCTIC. 

Senator Gardner heard from religious leaders, sportsmen, outdoor companies, breweries, wineries, conservationists, and nearly 200 Colorado businesses who told him time and again that protecting the Arctic Refuge is a priority for the people of Colorado. Yet, in December 2017, Senator Cory Gardner voted for a tax bill that included a provision to allow for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 

• Oil and gas development would cause irreparable damage to the Arctic refuge and potentially harm wildlife that rely on the refuge, such as polar bears and the Porcupine Caribou Herd.
• Publicly, the administration promised a fair, scientifically sound, and robust review process. In reality, it has placed arbitrary deadlines and limitations on the environmental review every step of the way.
• Americans want a balanced approach to energy development, not a sell-off of one of our wildest places.
• Completing the leasing Environmental Impact Statement within one year and limiting the pages does not allow sufficient time to gather and analyze scientific data, examine the negative impacts drilling would have on the landscape and wildlife, or hold meaningful discussions with the local communities and other stakeholders. 
• Drilling the Refuge would never have been authorized through any other means than slipping it into a budget reconciliation bill, such as the tax bill, which only required a simple majority in the Senate. Now, the administration is rushing through a process it knows is widely unpopular, all in hopes of finalizing leases before a change of power could overturn this egregiously shortsighted and unjust decision.
• Public comments submitted to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) during the scoping phase for the leasing EIS process were overwhelmingly in support of protecting the Arctic Refuge from development. More than 700,000 comments were submitted in opposition to development.

ABOUT THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

•  The Refuge is a landscape covering over 19 million acres in northeastern Alaska and is America’s largest wildlife refuge. 
• The Refuge has been protected by the federal government since 1960 and has a long history of bipartisan support.
• In the Gwich’in language, the Arctic Refuge is “the sacred place were life begins.”
• The Refuge is home to bears, wolves, caribou, musk oxen, and the 197,000 strong Porcupine Caribou Herd.
• The Porcupine Caribou Herd is a critical food, clothing and tool source for Alaska Native communities.