Runaway Drilling Disaster Threatens Sea Turtles... Deadline Monday for Action

 

		Prevent Another Drilling Disaster   Remnants of BP's supposedly state-of-the-art offshore oil rig is spewing thousands of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, threatening wildlife in the Gulf and along our coasts (Photo: U.S. Coast Guard 04/22/10). Tell the Obama administration to reject Big Oil's plans for more dirty offshore drilling. New drilling in the Gulf of Mexico could risk the survival of threatened and endangered sea turtles. Help us send 40,000 messages before the Monday deadline for public comments! Take action now… Dear raul, Right now, roughly 5,000 barrels of oil a day are being spilled into the Gulf of Mexico southeast of Venice, Louisiana [1] – yet another awful outcome of the tragic explosion at what was supposed to be one of the safest and most advanced offshore drilling rigs in the world. Help close the door on another drilling disaster. Urge the Obama administration to reject expanded offshore drilling exploration. Delicate marine ecosystems – and the dolphins, sea turtles and other wildlife that need them to survive – are at risk. Local fisherman fear for their businesses, as an oil slick twice the size of Maryland nears the ecologically fragile Louisiana coastline. [2]  The situation is so desperate that yesterday the U.S. Coast Guard lit contaminated portions of the Gulf on fire in a desperate attempt to eliminate the spill before it reaches the coast. [3] And as the tragedy unfolds, officials in the Obama administration are considering a proposal that could dramatically expand offshore drilling – and bring the threat of another tragedy like the one now unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico to your favorite beach. Tell the Obama administration to reject Big Oil's plans to industrialize our coasts. Submit your comments now. Comments on the administration's offshore drilling proposal are due Monday (May 3rd), so please send your message to federal officials right now! It doesn't take a dramatic explosion and monster oil slick to see the perils of offshore drilling. For some marine wildlife, the simple act of determining whether and where to site an offshore rig can be a prelude to disaster. Seismic surveys conducted during oil and gas exploration potentially can cause temporary or permanent hearing loss, induce behavioral changes and even physically injure marine mammals like bottlenose dolphins found along the Gulf coastline and bowhead whales in the waters of Alaska's Chukchi Sea. Protect whales and dolphins from risky offshore drilling schemes. Say "No!" to more destructive oil and gas exploration off our coasts. Exposure to petroleum also causes tissue damage in the eyes, mouth, skin and lungs of dolphins and other marine mammals. And because they are at the top of the food chain, marine mammals like polar bears and whales will be exposed to the dangers of bioaccumulation of organic pollutants and metals. For the threatened and endangered sea turtles found along the Gulf Coast, expanded oil drilling could mean the difference between survival and extinction. Dredging of nesting beaches, collisions and noise disruptions threaten sea turtles. And hatchlings are particularly susceptible to oiling because they spend much of their time near the water surface, where spilled oil or tar accumulates.  Take action now to protect sea turtles, whales, dolphins and our coasts. Send your message to the Obama administration now. For the Wild Ones, Richard Charter Senior Policy Advisor, Marine Programs Defenders of Wildlife Defending Wildlife Over the last three weeks, Defenders of Wildlife has mobilized hundreds of activists to attend public hearings on the proposal to expand harmful exploration for oil and gas deposits off U.S. Coasts. Defenders from Texas, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina and New Jersey packed local hearings to testify on the dangers of industrializing our coasts and act as a voice for the whales, sea turtles, dolphins, shorebirds and other wildlife threatened by plans line our coasts with new offshore drilling rigs. Notes [1] http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g5gnWbqZ9SqBHvSYqJeE2AT5KebwD9FCN2100 [2] http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/04/29/bloomberg1376-L1N0ET1A74E9-6.DTL [3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/29/AR2010042901244.html?hpid=topnews
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