Lisa Demer and Richard Mauer, McClatchy Newspapers in the USA: “The U.S. House once again passed a bill to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, voting 237-187 Thursday on a measure expected to die in the Senate…. In addition to ANWR drilling, the bill would also open offshore drilling in the Atlantic and Pacific and force the approval of TransCanada’s controversial Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas. All those provisions have strong opposition among the Democrats who control the Senate”: here.
Settlement between BP and tort plaintiffs good news, but rulings on environmental law violations still to come: here.
While BP pays a settlement for Gulf disaster @DahrJamail follows the ongoing leaks from the Macondo well: here.
BP Settlement Sells Out Victims: here.
Canadian Government Targeting Opponents of New Oil Sands Pipeline: here.
Climate Change Disappears From Keystone XL Pipeline Debate. Lisa Song, Inside Climate News: “Mining and using tar sands oil creates more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil. But that’s rarely mentioned anymore. Neither the White House nor the EPA returned requests for comment. A State Department spokeswoman said the agency could not comment on the president’s Cushing speech. She added that the State Department has no involvement in reviewing the southern leg of Keystone XL, which would run from Cushing to Texas”: here.
“Yes” to Tar Sands, “No” to Coal: Obama Confounds Climate Community. Elizabeth McGowan, InsideClimate News: “How, puzzled critics asked, could the Obama administration endorse a tar sands pipeline project that’s been labeled the ‘fuse to the biggest carbon bomb on the planet’ while simultaneously laying the groundwork for kicking coal to the curb as an electricity generator? The short answer is that he has one eye on the polls and the other on his long-term energy goals”: here.
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Britain’s Sole Aircraft Carrier Damaged In NATO Arctic War Games
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2116266/HMS-Illustrious-Aircraft-carrier-sails-home-repairs-holed-tiny-tug-boat-Arctic-Circle.html
Daily Mail
March 16, 2012
Aircraft carrier sails home for repairs after smash in Arctic Circle
HMS Illustrious was last night sailing home to Portsmouth for urgent repairs after suffering two gaping holes when a tugboat smashed into her.
Britain’s last-remaining aircraft carrier had to cut short her part in a military exercise in the Arctic Circle after the collision in Harstad harbour, Norway, that left her with one 6ft long hole and another 4ft x 4ft in her hull.
She was being shepherded into harbour by four tugs when one of the pilots, thought to have been new to the job, lost control of his vessel.
After initial repairs, ‘Lusty’, which last year had a £40million refit, took part in Exercise Cold Response for five days before it was decided to bring her home.
…
The 30-year-old vessel was due to return home later this month after an eight-week deployment to train with other Nato warships in the Arctic Circle.
But her training schedule on Exercise Cold Response has been cut short for BAE engineers to examine the damage.
Illustrious was being taken into harbour when one of the tugs’ pilots, who is thought to have been new to the job, lost control of his vessel.
The front of the tug crashed into Illustrious, which has 685 crew on board, leaving her with extensive damage.
After initial repairs ‘Lusty’ took part in training operations in blizzard conditions for the next five days before a decision was made to bring her back home early.
…
The damage came just nine months after the warship returned from a £40m pounds refit which saw the Invincible-class aircraft carrier emerge in a new helicopter carrier role.
…
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Arctic Training 2012: Canada, Denmark End Greenland Military Drills
http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674canada-denmark_wrap_up_greenland_military_exercise/
Nunatsiaq News
March 17, 2012
Canada-Denmark wrap up Greenland military exercise
Canadian Rangers helped Danish elite forces learn Arctic skills
Jane George
-Denmark has also said it wants to be involved in a new “Arctic Command” for Arctic defense — which could involve Canada and build up its own Arctic Response Force, similar to what Canada is already doing, with its Arctic Response Company Group, which participated in Op Nanook.
Canadian Rangers from Nunavut headed back home March 16 after a two-week military exercise in northeastern Greenland, called “Arctic Training 2012,” where they helped train members of Denmark’s special forces and its Sirius dog team patrol unit.
…
The Canadians and Danes also carried out a mock search-and-rescue operation during the exercise, which took place March 2 to 16 near Mestersvig, a military outpost with a 1,800 metre-gravel runway, on the southern shore of the King Oscar Fiord in the Northeast Greenland National Park.
Arctic Training 2012 flows from an agreement Denmark and Canada signed in May 2010.
That memorandum of understanding “on enhanced operational defence cooperation in the Arctic,” such as joint military exercises, staff exchanges and co-operation in rescue operations, led to Denmark’s participation in last year’s Nunalivut exercise.
In August 2011, it also brought the head of the Danish Armed Forces and Denmark’s defence minister, along with Peter Mackay, Canada’s national defence minister, on short visits to Resolute Bay to see Operation Nanook.
Denmark’s defence minister, Gitte Lillelund Bech, said then that Denmark and Canada planned on more co-operation to find solutions to their shared challenges…
Bech also wanted to learn more about the Canadian Rangers, an example she said that Denmark is looking closely at for Greenland, where there are only special units from the Danish army patrolling the island.
…
Denmark has also said it wants to be involved in a new “Arctic Command” for Arctic defense — which could involve Canada and build up its own Arctic Response Force, similar to what Canada is already doing, with its Arctic Response Company Group, which participated in Op Nanook.
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Wisconsin oil spill inquiry begins
US: The US pipeline safety agency launched an investigation yesterday into an oil spill in Wisconsin from an Enbridge Inc network that shut much of the company’s pipeline system feeding Canadian crude to the US Midwest.
An estimated 1,200 barrels of oil were leaked and the accident-proneCanadian company said it did not have a restart time for the pipeline.
http://morningstaronline.co.uk/news/content/view/full/121983
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Losing the Senate to Tea Party Republicans was heartbreaking, and Democrats need to make major changes to win it back – and we are working with our allies on those changes. But President Obama can still do many things, and with your continued support we will keep pushing him to do them.
Here’s one: the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the most pristine, vibrant, and untouched ecosystems in America. Unfortunately, this unparalleled 1.5-million-acre habitat has never received Wilderness protection, leaving it vulnerable to harmful oil and gas development.
Please join the Audubon Society in asking President Obama to help permanently protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Thanks for all you do!
Bob Fertik
Audubon logo | ACTION ALERT
save the Arctic refuge for birds and wildlife
The coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge is vital habitat for 150 species of birds, including Snow Geese that build up fat reserves prior to their 1,400-mile nonstop migration to wintering grounds.
Urge President Obama to keep the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge safe from oil and gas drilling.
Take Action ›
Dear Audubon Advocate,
This year, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act, which has protected millions of acres of our most cherished landscapes. Yet one of the most wild and awe-inspiring places in America is still in desperate need of the Act’s protection—the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Send a message to President Obama and ask him to help permanently protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The Arctic Refuge is a haven for birds. Birds from six continents and all fifty states travel thousands of miles to nest here, taking advantage of the pristine habitat and bountiful foraging. But oil and gas interests continue to fight to drill on its coastal plain, the heart of the Refuge.
Drilling would eliminate and damage nesting habitat while worsening global warming, which threatens to unravel the fragile Arctic ecosystem. Wilderness protection would take drilling off the table, and the Obama administration is now considering whether to recommend this protection for the coastal plain.
Take action now and ask President Obama to help end the persistent threats to the Arctic Refuge and protect this extraordinary place forever.
The stakes are high, just as they were 50 years ago. President Lyndon B. Johnson summed it up best when he signed the Wilderness Act into law in 1964, declaring in his gravelly southern drawl,
“If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it.”
Sincerely,
David Yarnold
President & CEO, National Audubon Society
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