Don't Let Mitsubishi Destroy a Natural Treasure

STOP MITSUBISHI. SAVE BRISTOL BAY. Speak out now to be heard at Mitsubishi's Shareholders Meeting on June 24 -- before Alaska's unspoiled Bristol Bay watershed is ruined. Dear Raul, "America does not want the Pebble Mine! Stay out of Bristol Bay!" That's the Earth Day message we delivered -- in the form of a Petition signed by more than 100,000 Americans -- to foreign mining giant Anglo American at its Shareholders Meeting in London last month. Now it's time to ratchet up the pressure on another mega-company behind the disastrous Pebble Mine: the Mitsubishi Corporation. Please sign our new Petition of Protest so that your voice can be heard loud and clear at Mitsubishi's annual Shareholders Meeting in Tokyo on June 24. Nothing less than an American natural treasure is at stake. Bristol Bay is home to orcas and beluga whales, wild moose and caribou, and one of only two populations of freshwater harbor seals in the world -- all intimately connected to the health of the bay and its world-class salmon runs. Those salmon runs also support thousands of sustainable jobs in fishing and tourism as well as Alaska Natives who depend on the salmon for food. Anglo American and Mitsubishi couldn't pick a much worse place on the planet to dig a 2,000-foot-deep open-pit mine. Sited in a known earthquake zone, the Pebble Mine's colossal earthen dams -- which are supposed to hold back some 10 billion tons of mining waste mixed with toxic chemicals -- are a disaster waiting to happen. But it wouldn't even take an earthquake to irreparably contaminate this unspoiled corner of Alaska. Just constructing the Pebble Mine -- before it goes into full-scale operation -- will permanently destroy over 60 miles of salmon habitat. If Bristol Bay's world-famous salmon runs collapse, so could the entire ecosystem -- not to mention the communities that rely on salmon for their very subsistence. That's why a vast majority of Native Alaskans oppose the Pebble Mine. Please stand in solidarity with Alaska's Native communities by making your voice heard at Mitsubishi's Shareholders Meeting. It is unconscionable for a company that sells so many cars, trucks, and electronics in the United States to sacrifice a spectacular piece of America's heritage. Will Mitsubishi back down when faced with worldwide opposition? It did 10 years ago. When Mitsubishi and the Mexican government planned a massive industrial salt plant in the planet's last untouched gray whale nursery at San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja, Mexico, NRDC joined with leading Mexican environmental groups to oppose it. Working with an international coalition, we brought public opinion to bear on Mitsubishi -- deluging the company with more than one million petitions. In the end, the Mexican government called a halt to the project, and Mitsubishi abandoned its salt plant project! Today, Mitsubishi needs to know that proceeding with the Pebble Mine will give the company a black eye in the view of millions of American consumers. Please tell Mitsubishi's CEO that you will vigorously oppose his company's efforts to build a mega-mine that will destroy our natural heritage, devastate Alaskan Native communities, and contaminate Alaska's wild salmon paradise. Let me know that you'll help us stop Mitsubishi and defeat the disastrous Pebble Mine. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council P.S. Hurry -- with the Mitsubishi Shareholders Meeting only weeks away, we don't have much time to collect at least 100,000 signatures on our Petition. Please act now when your signature will do the most good!