ACTION ALERT: Arctic: Moratorium Now!
June 9, 2010
Background:
The devastating BP spill off the Gulf of Mexico has awakened our collective consciousness to the serious risks of offshore drilling. Images of oil soaked wetlands, dying birds and animals and firsthand accounts of jobs and livelihoods lost are just the start of what will be long-lasting impacts of this environmental catastrophe.
With the discovery of 90 billion barrels of oil and 1,670 trillion cubic feet of natural gas under melting ice, the Arctic is increasingly being viewed as a final frontier for fossil fuel development. More than 80 per cent of the oil and gas is found offshore.
What went wrong in the U.S.
Offshore drilling is inherently risky. As reported in a recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal, offshore drilling regulations have increasingly shifted safety responsibility to the oil industry.
There is a perfect storm brewing in Canada laying the groundwork for a similar catastrophe.
BP has acquired three offshore exploration licenses for the Canadian Beaufort Sea. Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil Canada were also successful in acquiring exploration rights for a part of the Beaufort Sea.
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada issued a call for bids in the Beaufort Sea and Mackenzie Delta from March 6 to July 6, 2010.
Despite opposition by local Inuit, the Nunavut territorial government and Parks Canada, the Geological Survey of Canada has been granted approval for seismic tests exploring for oil and gas in Lancaster South in Eastern Canadian Arctic. This area been proposed for designation as a national marine conservation area.
Like the U.S., Canadian offshore drilling regulations have recently been relaxed. In December 2009, regulations shifted more responsibility to the energy industry to self-regulate, including rules meant to safeguard against oil spills.
BP and other oil companies have reportedly urged Canadian regulators to drop a safeguard requirement that companies in the Arctic have to drill relief wells in the same season as the primary well. Until recently, the National Energy Board (NEB) was prepared to give Arctic drillers, including BP, an exemption for relief wells.
In the wake of the BP disaster, many commentators report that Canadian rules are even more relaxed then American rules which failed to prevent a devastating spill.
Bill C-9, the Budget Implementation Act (passed the House of Commons, June 8) contains several provisions that will gut environmental assessment rules, including giving the Environment Minister power to decide whether or not an environmental assessment is necessary for oil and gas developments and power to shift responsibility for environmental assessments solely to the Big Oil-friendly National Energy Board (NEB).
TAKE ACTION: Use our action alert below to send an email demanding a moratorium on oil and gas exploration and drilling in the Arctic! The email will go to the Prime Minister of Canada, Opposition Leaders and Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Natural Resources, Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Fisheries and Oceans, cc’ed are relevant Opposition critics.
Here are 5 reasons to support a moratorium on oil and gas developments in the Arctic:
- As seen with BP Oil in the Gulf of Mexico, there is no surefire way to guarantee against a massive oil spill.
- A spill will devastate the fragile Arctic ecosystem.
- Further Arctic oil and gas development and a spill stands to have devastating impacts on local Indigenous Peoples including on food security and cultural needs.
- Melting ice in the Arctic shouldn’t be seen as an opportunity for Big Oil to increase their profits with new projects – it is a serious warming signal of the climate crisis.
- A moratorium is a logical first step in a just transition to sustainable jobs, energy and an improved environment for everyone.
Read the Council of Canadians, Indigenous Environmental Network and REDOIL Network joint letter to Foreign Ministers present at the Arctic Summit (Chelsea Quebec, March 2010) calling for a moratorium, here.
Press release: Lessons learned from BP disaster – Arctic moratorium needed, June 9, 2010
Press release: Arctic Ocean Foreign Ministers told leave it in the ground, March 29, 2010
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