HOME PAGE SUBSCRIPTIONS, Print Editions, Newsletter PRODUCTS READ THE PETROLEUM NEWS ARCHIVE! ADVERTISING INFORMATION EVENTS

Providing coverage of Alaska and northern Canada's oil and gas industry
June 2016

Vol 21, No. 25 Week of June 19, 2016

Scientists request no Arctic offshore drilling

Nearly 400 scientists, mainly from the United States but also from other countries around the world, have written to President Obama requesting that the Chukchi and Beaufort seas be removed from the next five-year outer continental shelf lease sale program. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has been accepting comments on a proposed version of the program, which runs from 2017 to 2022. The program includes a Beaufort Sea sale in 2020 and a Chukchi Sea sale in 2022. Public comments on the program were due by June 16.

The letter, published by the Pew Charitable Trusts, says that climate-change-associated loss of sea ice, ocean acidification and increased access for industrial activities all pose significant risk to the ocean environment. The scientists say that they support additional action to ensure the resilience of the Arctic marine ecosystem and to sustain the people who use the marine wildlife for their sustenance.

“No new oil and gas leasing or exploration should be allowed in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas in the foreseeable future, including in the next five-year leasing plan,” the letter says. “Additional ecologically important and sensitive marine habitats should be placed off-limits to oil and gas activity, while honoring subsistence hunting fishing and other uses and access for indigenous peoples, to protect the long-term health and function of these waters.”

The scientists ask the president for consultation with indigenous communities and Arctic scientists over potential withdrawals from future sales of further areas of particular environmental sensitivity - the signatories of the letter include 26 scientists from the University of Alaska.

While environmental groups have remained vehemently opposed to offshore oil drilling, saying that the drilling and subsequent development would pose too high a risk to the delicate Arctic marine environment, the oil industry has argued that it can operate safely in the region. Three oil fields have been operating without incident for several years from artificial islands in the shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea.

Alaska lawmakers consistently support offshore drilling, viewing offshore Arctic development as a key to sustaining oil flow through the trans-Alaska pipeline and hence supporting the Alaska economy.

- ALAN BAILEY






Petroleum News - Phone: 1-907 522-9469 - Fax: 1-907 522-9583
[email protected] --- http://www.petroleumnews.com ---
S U B S C R I B E

Copyright Petroleum Newspapers of Alaska, LLC (Petroleum News)(PNA)©2013 All rights reserved. The content of this article and web site may not be copied, replaced, distributed, published, displayed or transferred in any form or by any means except with the prior written permission of Petroleum Newspapers of Alaska, LLC (Petroleum News)(PNA). Copyright infringement is a violation of federal law subject to criminal and civil penalties.