Defenders Condemns Reckless Push for Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Drilling

An oil and gas leasing program on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska will jeopardize sensitive species, irreparably damage public lands and compound harmful effects from climate change, wrote Defenders of Wildlife’s former President and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark in a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke.

As former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during the Clinton administration, Rappaport Clark described the negative impacts from oil and gas exploration and drilling on wildlife, habitat and other refuge purposes, and reminded the Secretary of his many obligations under law to conserve these resources. 

Congress opened the refuge to potential development in tax legislation enacted last December, instigating this planning effort. Today marks the close of the scoping comment period for the planning process. Nearly 30,000 Defenders members and supporters joined the organization in opposing rushed and reckless oil and gas development in the refuge. 

Statement from Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark: 

“Defenders strongly opposes shortsighted, destructive, needless fossil fuel development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Department’s rushed planning process for an oil and gas program must follow all applicable laws protecting wildlife, habitat and other values in the Arctic Refuge, even if those protections preclude commercially viable development. A refuge is a place for wildlife, not oil rigs.”