Shell Receives Final Permit Required to Drill in Arctic Ocean

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Responding to news this afternoon about the Obama administration’s final approval for Shell to extract oil in Arctic waters, the National Audubon Society released the following statement.

“Some ideas are just non-starters, like drilling for oil in the Arctic Ocean,” said Audubon President and CEO David Yarnold (@david_yarnold). “Spills under ice sheets can’t be controlled, and America doesn’t need the oil in order to maintain its energy independence. This is just cynical partisan politics, a public relations bone that the Obama administration is throwing to Shell. This way, the Obama team gets to pretend that ‘all of the above’ (including risky offshore drilling) is a legitimate energy strategy as a way to deflect criticism from a much-needed global agreement on greenhouse gas emissions controls. It’s a phony deal, but worse, issuing this authorization is a slippery slope that could lead to environmental catastrophe for birds, other wildlife and people. Is today’s ruling just bad policy, cynical or politically motivated? How about all of the above?”

Audubon Alaska’s Policy Director Jim Adams was more specific about the potentially lethal consequences of an Arctic oil spill:

“When oil spills in the Arctic Ocean, nearly every bird touched by oil would likely die. Like a hole in a diver’s wetsuit, a drop of oil allows frigid Arctic water to penetrate a bird’s feathers, causing the bird to freeze to death long before toxic oil has a chance to poison it,” warned Adams. “There are five globally significant Important Bird Areas in the Chukchi Sea alone, and the impacts of an oil spill will be devastating for birds such as the threatened Spectacled Eider. The Obama Administration’s short-sighted decision to allow Shell to drill this summer is simply irresponsible, when Shell has no hope of fixing what it may very well break.”

The National Audubon Society saves birds and their habitats throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon's state programs, nature centers, chapters and partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Since 1905, Audubon's vision has been a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Audubon is a nonprofit conservation organization. Learn more at www.audubon.org and @audubonsociety.

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Contact: Nicolas Gonzalez, ngonzalez@audubon.org (212) 979-3068