Stop Shell From Drilling -- NRDC's Save BioGems News, 19JAN11

UPDATES on Arctic drilling, Southern forest, polar bears, coal mines, and more. Please participate on the campaign against drilling in the Arctic by clicking the link in the article.

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America's Arctic Keep Shell out of the polar bear's home The Shell oil company is pressing ahead with a new plan to begin drilling this summer in the Beaufort Sea, just off the coastline of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As America's largest onshore birthing area for polar bears, this fragile shoreline would be devastated in the event of an oil spill. Oil-covered polar bears stand virtually no chance of survival, and beluga whales and other Arctic wildlife would face a similar fate. What's worse, Shell is relying on an oil spill response plan -- created and approved before last summer's Gulf oil disaster -- that is outdated and woefully inadequate. There is NO proven technology for cleaning up oil in ice-filled waters like the Beaufort. With the Obama Administration under tremendous pressure from Big Oil to allow new drilling in the Arctic, Americans need to send a message loud and clear that we won't stand for another catastrophic oil spill. »Tell Interior Secretary Salazar to deny Shell's permit to drill in the Beaufort this summer. In the News   HUGE VICTORY FOR SOUTHERN FORESTS In a major victory for NRDC and our environment, Georgia-Pacific, one of the world's largest wood and paper product companies, recently announced it will no longer purchase trees from Endangered Forests and Special Areas, or from new pine plantations established in place of natural hardwood forests on 90 million acres across the south, including parts of our Cumberland Plateau BioGem. The 11 designated Endangered Forests and Special Areas span 600,000 acres across North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia and will be extended over the next few years as additional areas are mapped and identified. Over the past several decades, the intense wood and paper production in the region has destroyed millions of acres of natural hardwood forests to make way for pine plantations. The agreement is a result of six years of discussion between Georgia-Pacific and NRDC, the Dogwood Alliance and the Rainforest Action Network. Congratulations to everyone who worked tirelessly to bring about this historic agreement! ALASKAN HABITAT DESIGNATED FOR POLAR BEARS In good news for polar bears, the Obama Administration has designated more than 187,000 square miles along the north coast of Alaska as “critical habitat” for the bears. The important new safeguard was part of a settlement in an ongoing lawsuit brought by NRDC, Greenpeace and the Center for Biological Diversity. Under the Endangered Species Act, the federal government cannot allow any action that would harm or damage lands designated as critical habitat -- in this case, coastal lands and waters that are vital to the survival of the polar bear. Alaska has already sued to overturn the habitat designation, even though the state's polar bears are increasingly threatened by global warming and Arctic oil development and could face extinction by 2050. In a separate legal challenge also brought by NRDC and our allies, a federal judge is now considering whether polar bears should be granted the full-fledged endangered species protection they so urgently need. SALAZAR ENDS THE "NO MORE WILDERNESS" POLICY Last month, Interior Secretary Salazar issued a Secretarial Order ending the Bush-era "no more wilderness" policy, which prevented federal agencies from protecting wilderness-quality lands across the West from destructive oil and gas drilling. More than 10 million acres of western lands have wilderness characteristics but have not been designated as wilderness, including Utah's Upper Desolation Canyon, Wyoming's Adobe Town and New Mexico's Otero Mesa. In the wake of Secretary Salazar's order, we are hopeful that these spectacular lands will now be afforded the protection they need. Thanks to all the BioGems Defenders who made their voices heard on this issue. BIOGEMS DEFENDERS KEEP EXXONMOBIL OUT OF LOLO NATIONAL FOREST FOR NOW You've been heard! Officials at the Lolo National Forest have agreed to conduct additional environmental analysis regarding ExxonMobil's request to bury power lines within the forest for an industrial transportation corridor. The corridor would allow ExxonMobil to haul super-sized loads of mining equipment through the forest and onward to tar sands developments in Alberta. Many local residents raised concerns about the possible noise, traffic and pollution from the project, as well as its impacts on nearby Lolo Creek and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. Back in the summer of 2010, we asked BioGems Defenders to speak out against the proposal, and more than 18,000 of you took action. Forest Service officials have even acknowledged that the overwhelming response from BioGems Defenders -- which made up the majority of comments submitted -- influenced their decision to pursue additional analysis. Kudos to our BioGems Defenders! Action Insider   ROBERT REDFORD SPEAKS OUT FOR BRYCE CANYON Long-time environmental activist and NRDC Trustee Robert Redford takes a stand against the proposed Alton Coal Mine -- located a mere 10 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park. GOOD NEWS ON WILDLIFE Read Andrew Wetzler's latest roundup on good news for wildlife around the world.

Photo credits: Caribou bulls swimming across Kobuk River. © Nick Jans, AlaskaStock.com; Polar bear © Steven Kazlowski, AlaskaStock.com.

Help save a coral reef from destruction, MEXICO'S CABO PULMO NATIONAL PARK from NRDC 4JAN11

THE first call to action from the NRDC BioGems action team, please participate by clicking the header or links

		We need your immediate action to help save an ancient coral reef in Mexico’s Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park. This 20,000-year-old reef -- believed to be the oldest in the eastern Pacific -- is threatened by plans for a massive tourism complex next door on the Baja peninsula. Tell the Mexican government to reject plans for the Cabo Cortés mega-tourism project next to Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park. The reef of Cabo Pulmo provides sanctuary for the greatest concentration of marine species in the entire Gulf of California, including whale sharks, Pacific manta rays, humpback whales, blue whales, dolphins, and five of the world’s seven endangered species of sea turtles. Coral reefs like the one at Cabo Pulmo are considered rainforests of the sea because of the diversity of life they sustain, but they are rapidly disappearing around the world. In 1995, local residents and the Mexican government recognized the ecological importance of the Cabo Pulmo reef and designated it a national park and no-fishing zone. Today, the healthy and vibrant reef teems with marine life, but all of that could be undone in a matter of months. A Spanish real estate company, Hansa Urbana, wants to build a colossal tourism complex on 9,500 coastal acres next door to Cabo Pulmo. With plans for 13,000 housing units, 3,655 hotel rooms, 2 million square feet of commercial space, and marinas and golf courses, the project is the equivalent of an entire new city. Make no mistake: the project would irreversibly damage the reef ecosystem and wipe out local livelihoods that depend on ecotourism. Government authorities initially granted the environmental permits for the project, but are now reconsidering their decision. It’s urgent that you send a message today, telling them to reject the Cabo Cortés mega-tourism project. Thank you for taking action to protect Baja’s imperiled coral reef ecosystem. Sincerely, Peter Lehner Executive Director Natural Resources Defense Council

TIME IS RUNNING OUT TO STOP SHELL FROM DRILLING IN THE ARCTIC 4AUG10 from NRDC

THIS is from the NRDC, watch the video, and then click the header to go to the biogems website and participate in the action to pressure Pres. Obama to end all chances of drilling in the Arctic.
Last week NRDC celebrated a major victory when a federal court stopped oil and gas companies from drilling in Alaska's Chukchi Sea -- one of our nation's two Polar Bear Seas.

But that ruling does NOT apply to Shell's plans for drilling off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the Beaufort -- the second of the two Polar Bear Seas.