GR Action #3/99 No New Oil Exploration / Arctic Ocean
Global Response
P.O. Box 7490 Phone: 303/444-0306
Boulder CO, USA 80306-7490 Fax: 303/449-9794
Visit our website at: http://www.globalresponse.org
May 6, 1999
"We cannot afford to burn even a fraction of the fossil fuels we’ve already discovered, if we are to avert catastrophic global warming. Yet John Browne [CEO of BP Amoco] wants to spend $5 billion to open up new oil fields in the Arctic." -- Gary Cook
"For countless generations the Gwich’in people, my people, have relied on the land to provide for our survival. The caribou, moose, waterfowl, fish as well as berries and roots, have given us sustenance, spiritually as well as bodily. That connection with the land is our most cherished cultural value which we hope to pass down to our future generations. "The continued industrial development in our homeland threatens this institution, the basis of our identity as Native Peoples of Alaska. Already we are witnessing dramatic changes in our Alaskan climate from the burning of fossil fuels, and an oil spill on the North Slope would effectively destroy our abundant wildlife and our Native cultures in the process. We do not wish to repeat the lessons taught us by the Exxon Valdez disaster."-- Allan Hayton, Arctic Village, Alaska Addressing BP Amoco directors and shareholders, April 1999
BP Amoco is at the forefront of industry efforts to develop new technology to extract oil from ice-covered Arctic waters. This technology poses a double threat. In the short term, oil spills threaten the fragile Arctic ecosystem and the Native peoples who depend on them for their livelihoods. In the long term, continued use of fossil fuels causes global warming, which is the single most serious threat to life on the planet.
Alaska Natives and Greenpeace ask Global Response members to help persuade BP Amoco to abandon its Northstar Project in the Arctic Ocean, and to invest in developing renewable energy alternatives – solar, wind, and waves.
BP Amoco’s Northstar Project is building an offshore platform on an artificial island in the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska. It plans to transport the oil to shore through a subsea pipeline – a risky experiment never yet attempted in Arctic conditions. If allowed to proceed, Northstar would open the way for building a string of oil wells across the Beaufort Sea.
Greenpeace gives these reasons to stop offshore oil development in the Arctic Ocean:
1. Global Warming. The Western Arctic, site of the Northstar Project, is already warming at least three times faster than the planet as a whole. The reduction of sea ice now occurring is a major threat to the Arctic food chain and to many unique Arctic species, including polar bears and walrus. If the world continues to burn even a fraction of the known reserves of coal, oil and natural gas, catastrophic climate change will result. To achieve the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, we must phase out the use of fossil fuels and develop renewable energy alternatives. To preserve a life-supporting climate, the world can’t afford to use all the oil reserves we already have. Further oil exploration must stop.
2. Dangerous Technology. Northstar will use untested and risky technology to transport oil ashore through a pipeline buried beneath the seabed. Sea ice in the region continually gouges and scours the sea floor, raising concerns about the safety of the pipeline. The area is either frozen solid or in "broken ice" condition for about ten months each year.
3. Oil spill Danger. The Final Environmental Impact Statement said there is up to a 1-in-4 chance of a major spill over the life of the Northstar Project (The Trans-Alaska Pipeline has reported 624 spills since it opened in 1977). Any leak that occurs during the long, dark winter would likely go undetected until spring. Cleaning up an oil spill is next to impossible in the region’s "broken ice" conditions during spring and fall. A major spill could prove disastrous for the biologically-rich arctic ecosystem, especially the endangered bowhead whale, polar bears, ringed seals, sea ducks, and the Inupiat Eskimo communities.
REQUESTED ACTION: Urge BP Amoco to abandon Northstar and all new oil exploration, and lead the oil industry’s transition toward renewable energy.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
THE ARCTIC -- The Arctic is home to some of the world’s most distinctive mammals, millions of migratory and resident birds, a rich ice-edge community, and some of the world’s major fisheries. It is a biologically and culturally unique environment, and one of the last places on Earth where natural conditions still prevail over much of the region.Unlike the ice-bound Antarctic, the Arctic has been home to humans for more than 10,000 years. Today, the region is culturally, politically, demographically and economically diverse, with settlements ranging from small indigenous communities to modern industrial cities. The Arctic is also a region particularly vulnerable to human-induced climate change. What happens to the Arctic and its people serves as an indicator for what may occur in other regions, and to the planet as a whole.
BP AMOCO is the largest single producer of oil both in the UK and the USA. Fossil fuels account for 99.95% of the company’s recent investments; solar investments have declined to less than .01% of the company portfolio. For every $10,000 BP Amoco spent on oil exploration and development in 1998, only $16 was spent on solar energy.
Please send polite letters to the CEO of BP Amoco:
Sir John Browne Group Chief Executive BP Amoco Britannic House 1 Finsbury Circus London EC2M 7BA
England Email: HomeBP@bp.com
* Commend him for giving verbal support to the Kyoto Protocol of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which seeks a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
* Suggest that as the largest producer of oil in the US and the UK, BP Amoco has a unique opportunity to lead the industry in the critical transition toward renewable energy alternatives. This is necessary to prevent catastrophic climate change. It is also an exciting business prospect.
* Urge him to shut down the Northstar Project because it threatens biologically rich and unique ecosystems and human cultures, and because we must phase out the use of fossil fuels, not increase their supply.
* Ask him to stop all new oil exploration.
This Global Response Action was issued in support of and with information provided by the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, Alaska Center for the Environment, the Alaska Conservation Alliance, Oilwatch Alaska, the Alaska Forum for Environmental Responsibility, and Greenpeace. For more information, see:
www.unfccc.de/ www.sanebp.com/ greenpeace.tcn.net/reports.html www.greenpeace.org/~climate/ www.moles.org/ProjectUnderground/index1.html www.mosquitonet.com/~naec/