There are polar bears at risk from oil drilling in the Arctic and now dolphins at risk in the UK. The future of Britain’s most famous dolphins is at risk from oil and gas exploration, conservationists say. The bottlenose dolphins of the Moray Firth in Scotland are the best known and most studied dolphins in … Read More
impact on wildlife
Shell Bids Over $2 Billion for Alaskan Oil Leases
Stuff the bears lets get drilling – that’s the message from oil giant Shell, which has emerged as the highest bidder for 275 lease blocks in the Chukchi sea offshore northwest Alaska. Shell’s bids amounted to $2.1 billion of the $3.4 billion bid overall. The sale went forward over the protest of conservation and Native … Read More
“Scientific Fraud” Behind Arctic Rush
As the US government invites tenders for oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea, just days before a ruling on whether the polar bear should be added to the list of endangered species, it is facing a new scandal. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility – PEER – has released internal emails from the Interior … Read More
Suit Seeks to Block Alaskan Oil Search
A coalition of environmental organizations and Inupiaq native groups filed suit in a US federal court in Anchorage yesterday to force the Interior Department to do a new analysis of the environmental consequences of oil and gas exploration in the Chukchi Sea, off northwestern Alaska. The groups hope to stop plans to develop 29 million … Read More
US Government: “Drilling Won’t Hurt Polar Bears”
The directors of two Interior Department agencies said yesterday they’re confident oil and gas exploration in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska can proceed without threatening polar bears that depend on the sea ice. The officials appeared before a Congressional committee on global warming that is examining why the department is postponing a decision on whether … Read More
Bush Administration Slammed for Polar Bear Delay
Yesterday the Bush Administration delayed a decisive decision as to whether to list the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act. The feeling is that political meddling and its recent rush to sell oil leases in Arctic waters are behind the delay. Federal law requires U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to have made a final … Read More
Alaska: Oil Plan Threatens Polar Bears
Environment groups are coming together to protest against plans by the US government to open up a vast area of Arctic sea off Alaska for oil exploration, arguing it poses an unacceptable new threat to polar bears and walruses. The Minerals and Management Service, MMS, said it would be seeking bids for petroleum licences in … Read More
Seoul Declares Oil Disaster
South Korea has declared a section of its west coast a special disaster zone, as thousands of residents, soldiers and police spent a fifth day trying to mop up the worst oil spill in the country’s history. President Roh Moo-hyun said yesterday the government would offer “maximum support” to the residents of the area “focused … Read More
15,000 Birds Dead, 20,000 Poisoned in Russian Slick
The major oil spill off the southern coast of Russia killed over 15,000 birds and poisoned over 20,000, the state agricultural and natural resources monitoring agency has confirmed. “It is impossible to determine the exact number of perished birds due to the fact that the dead birds were swept to the beach and covered by … Read More
Pelosi Expands Probe of San Francisco spill
The American Speaker of the House of Representatives has announced she will request a new investigation by the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security into the November 7th oil spill in San Francisco Bay. Central to the investigation will be the questionable Coast Guard response. “One way or another soonner or later, we … Read More