From the Inbox: Its time to pause Arctic Drilling

TAKE ACTION: Time to Pause Arctic Oil Drilling!
	Plans are already in place to drill in the pristine waters of America's Arctic Ocean starting in July. Tell Pres. Obama to pause offshore oil drilling in America's Arctic Ocean!
Dear Friend, BP's oil well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico is one of the worst environmental disasters in decades. The response by federal regulators and the companies responsible for this catastrophe is inadequate, and much more needs to be done. Adding insult to injury, we learn more each day about how the Minerals Management Service (MMS) went out of its way to serve the oil industry's desires rather than apply the laws and rules meant to oversee it. But while the oil begins to reach shores, killing birds and other wildlife and destroying miles of coastal wetlands, plans are already in place to drill in the pristine waters of America's Arctic Ocean starting in July. We need your help to keep this from happening. An oil spill in these waters would mean a catastrophic loss of whales, seals, birds, fish and polar bears, and would have devastating impact on the Native communities that rely on the bounty of the Arctic Ocean. The Coast Guard went on record, saying that there are limited resources and capabilities to respond to a large oil spill in the remote Arctic Ocean, where sea-ice and storms significantly limit the ability to clean up spilled oil. But, just like its treatment of Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf, MMS did not even analyze or disclose the effects of a large oil spill before approving Shell's Arctic drilling plans, because the agency claimed a large spill was "too remote and speculative an occurrence" to warrant analysis. In light of the Gulf spill, the Secretary of the Interior must reexamine his decision to approve the plans without analyzing the effects of a large oil spill. National and regional environmental groups are pushing the Obama administration to reconsider its Arctic drilling approvals with ads in the New York Times and Washington Post. This week, we're running a television ad on CNN nationwide and on other networks right in Washington, D.C. to send a strong message to decision makers that we need a time out on Arctic drilling. Our message is being heard, but we need your help to push for a strong, clear commitment that takes a cautious, science-based approach to Arctic oil drilling. Obama's Department of Interior can suspend new exploratory drilling in the Arctic, and should do so immediately until a full and independent review of the regulatory and industry failures in the Gulf of Mexico spill is completed. Time is running out as Shell could begin drilling as soon as July 4th. Please tell President Obama to pause offshore oil drilling in America's Arctic Ocean: http://action.earthjustice.org/campaign/arcticshell_0510/i37iwdu4z75ji56e? We have a responsibility to protect, not exploit, these pristine waters. — Earthjustice Because the earth needs a good lawyer