Going to court to save walruses from Shell
NRDC
Big News: NRDC and our partners have filed suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect Pacific walruses from the dire threat of Arctic drilling at the hands of companies like Shell Oil.
Our lawsuit takes aim at a rule that would allow oil exploration in key walrus feeding areas in the Arctic’s Chukchi Sea next year.
Shell already announced plans to drill in the Chukchi as soon as 2015. But we must not give them the chance to endanger the Arctic’s vulnerable walrus populations.
Walruses are already suffering terribly because of global warming.
Just two months ago, some 35,000 walruses were driven ashore by loss of their sea ice habitat due to climate change, forcing them to swim distances more than 100 miles to reach their vital Chukchi feeding grounds. The last thing they need is a catastrophic oil spill.
Yet the Fish and Wildlife Service would put them directly in harm’s way by allowing oil drilling in key walrus foraging areas. These industrial operations chase walruses away, trigger stampedes and harm the animals with deafeningly loud seismic blasts.
It’s outrageous that the government would cast its lot with Big Oil, instead of with the tens of thousands of mother walruses who must swim massive distances before hauling up to rest and feed their young.
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Make no mistake: We’re up against the federal government and giant oil companies who have far greater resources to bring to this fight.
But we’ve taken on tough fights like this before -- and won. And with your help, I firmly believe that we can wage and win this critical courtroom battle to save one of the Arctic’s most magnificent species.