388 scientists support Arctic sea drilling ban

In this March 2, 2010 file photo, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, chief, Jane Lubchenco looks out from the waterfront as she speaks to fisherman in Gloucester, Mass.
In this March 2, 2010 file photo, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, chief, Jane Lubchenco looks out from the waterfront as she speaks to fisherman in Gloucester, Mass.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Nearly 400 scientists have signed a letter urging President Obama to eliminate the possibility of Arctic offshore drilling in the near future by taking the Arctic Ocean out of the next federal offshore lease sale plan.

The scientists include Jane Lubchenco, Obama's former administrator of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, now a researcher and teacher at Oregon State University.

"I've witnessed some of the unprecedented changes underway in the Arctic" Lubchenco said in a prepared statement. "Conserving important marine areas is an essential step in sustaining the region's resilience."

The 388 signees include scientists from 13 countries and 25 current or emeritus professors at the University of Alaska. Their opinion conflicts with Alaska's elected officials, who strongly support opening Alaskan waters to drilling as a new source of oil for the trans-Alaska pipeline.

The Interior Department is collecting public comment through Thursday on the proposed 5-year oil and gas leasing program, which would cover 2017 to 2022. John Callahan, Alaska spokesman for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said by email the agency has received about 481,000 comments on the entire proposed program. The number targeting Arctic waters had not been tallied.

Environmental groups strongly oppose Arctic drilling. They say industrial activity will harm marine mammals that are already stressed by a loss of sea ice, and that global warming will be accelerated by burning oil found in the Arctic Ocean.

Two sales in Arctic waters are in the plan: the Beaufort Sea, off Alaska's north shore, in 2020, and the Chukchi Sea, off the northwest coast, in 2022.

The letter was released by Pew Charitable Trusts. Pew's Arctic science director, Henry Huntington, said the Obama administration has been clear that it wants decisions to be science-based. The letter is a chance for scientists to weigh in on decisions in the Arctic.

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker in an email message Tuesday that the White House and the Interior Department will be subjected to incredible pressure to make the lease sales so restrictive that it makes little sense for companies or the state to participate.

"We can protect the ocean and develop," Walker said. "The whaling captains we have talked with tell us it is important to move forward with development. Their communities depend on it. They also believe they can balance development with their subsistence way of life."

The Chukchi and the Beaufort hold an estimated 23.6 billion barrels of conventionally recoverable oil -- enough to meet all of California's demands for oil for 37.5 years, drilling advocates say.

Business on 06/16/2016

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