Micah Baird
This is part three in a blog series exploring Secretary Zinke’s systematic efforts to undermine protections for public lands and sell out wild places to dirty fuel interests. Zinke must not be allowed to hide behind his horse, but must face the full opposition of the American public. Read part one here and part two here.
“Oil under ice” is how the Arctic is labeled on a satirical cartoon called “Trumpworld” by Peter Kuper.
It’s oversimplified, but it stings because it is true. Trump’s administration, including Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, see the complexities and wonder of America’s Arctic landscapes, waterways, and the life sustained there, as red tape between the oil industry and drilling. And Zinke seems to see his role as helping bust through that tape.
Zinke recently said it himself, “The road to energy dominance goes through the great state of Alaska.”
It’s clear where Zinke’s alliances lie, and it’s not with the majority of the American people who would like to see places like the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge protected, not drilled. It’s not with the Gwich’in Nation, for whom the porcupine caribou herd equals their ability to survive and thrive as a people.
Roads are not what makes Alaska great, and the Secretary of the Interior of all people should know this. Alaska is one of the remaining strongholds of intact landscapes left in the world. As steward in chief of our nation’s public lands, particularly in a moment of climate crisis, Zinke should be acting with an eye toward our shared heritage. Instead, he’s ready to sell Alaska’s lands and waters off to the highest bidder.
It’s no secret that Alaska is rapidly thawing, experiencing the warming impacts of climate change at twice the rate of the rest of the country. Every year brings new heat records. Arctic ice off the coast gets thinner and thinner. This is due largely, of course, the burning of fossil fuels.
At the same time, Zinke recently unveiled a plan that would attempt to open nearly all of Alaska’s offshore waters to drilling. This is a plan that is so reckless, even some in Alaska’s pro-drilling delegation have asked him to scale it back. Offshore drilling would hurt Indigenous populations living on and reliant on healthy marine waterways for food. The thin ice caused by climate change, and accelerated by, well, drilling, also makes it perilous for people to hunt. People die every year as they go farther on thinner ice to hunt for their food to feed their families.
Then, Zinke brokered a costly and unnecessary deal to move forward plans for a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. This land swap and road has been repeatedly studied and consistently rejected - due to deep flaws in the road building plan, exorbitant cost, and impacts on local residents. If this road moves forward, it will set a dangerous precedent for existing wilderness across the U.S. - precedent that Zinke would pay heed to if he weren’t already bought and paid for.
And the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, arguably the best of the best for wild intact ecosystems in our nation, and yet also part of Zinke’s “road to energy dominance”. Last year, Zinke declared Alaska “open for business” and expressed his interest in authorizing seismic testing on the fragile coastal plain. Then, in late December, Congress passed a budget that will, for the first time, allow drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. Zinke, of course, applauded this disastrous move. It’s now up to us to pressure the companies and banks that would back Arctic drilling never to set foot in this special place - hope is not lost, but it’s going to take all of us.
It is callous and short sighted for the Secretary of the Interior to attempt to line the pockets of industry friends at the expense of the American people. It is up to us, who see Zinke for what he is, to hold our lines until our wild lands and waters are once again competently overseen by a real conservation leader with a real vision for the future.
Take action now and tell Zinke to protect our coasts from the dangers of offshore drilling.