The Marine Connection is concerned about reports that the Bush administration in the U.S has approved a nationwide plan governing the sale of all offshore oil and gas leases in federal waters over the next five years. The Minerals Management Service’s 2007-2012 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Programme was approved by Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne on Friday 29 June. Of 21 lease sales, eight are off the coast of Alaska and 12 in the Gulf of Mexico.

Five of the proposed lease sales would be in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas off Alaska, turning prime polar bear habitat into an industrial zone. Oil development in the Beaufort Sea would likely also be visible from the shores of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. An additional lease sale proposed in Alaska’s Bristol Bay is within critical habitat for the North Pacific right whale, the world’s most endangered whale, with an estimated population of only 100-200 animals, while two lease sales are proposed for Cook Inlet, home to endangered beluga whales and sea otters.

The Cook Inlet beluga population has been steadily decreasing for many years and is believed to only number about 100 animals. As recently as the 1970’s the population was in the 1300’s. Although a small subsistence hunt by native people has continued (five animals have been taken since 1999) this is not believed to be the main cause for the population’s continued decline. A proposal is currently underway to list the Cook Islands belugas under the endangered species act so the last thing the population needs is oil and gas drilling nearby.

The North Pacific right whale, like its North Atlantic cousin was decimated by commercial whaling and although protected since 1931 its population was so low it has failed to significantly recover. Estimates for the population currently stands at between 100- 200 animals, and up until 2002 no calves had been seen for decades. In addition to fouling some of the most pristine and sensitive marine habitat in the country, the programme would generate more than 4 billion tons of greenhouse gases over the expected life of the leases. A lawsuit has been filed challenging this decision using the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act by the Centre for Biological Diversity, a non-profit organisation in the U.S.

Marine Connection Campaigns Officer, Judith Scott states: “This is just another example of the Bush administrations’ complete disregard for the environment and the creatures that have to try and survive humanity’s constant destruction of their habitat. The Marine Connection hopes the lawsuit against the lease sale is successful, as it will go some way to protecting the vital habitat for belugas, North Pacific right whales and other endangered animals in this region.”