Speak Out to Stop Shell and Save the Arctic!

Speak Out to Stop Shell and Save the Arctic! Tell President Obama to put the Arctic off-limits to Big Oil and lead us toward a future powered by 100% clean energy. TAKE ACTION Dear  FRIEND, If you ask me, no oil company should be allowedanywhere near the Arctic Ocean. So it's mind-boggling that the Interior Department has given Shell Oil a green light on its exploration plan for drilling in the Arctic this summer. As I write this, Shell is moving an armada of drilling rigs and support ships toward the wildlife-filled waters of the Chukchi Sea -- our last untouched and unspoiled northern frontier. I'm not prepared -- not by a long shot -- to surrender America's Arctic to Shell Oil. I hope you're not either, because NRDC needs your help right now to stop this company in its tracks. Please join me at this critical moment and demand President Obama stop Shell's reckless drive to drill in the Arctic -- while we still have the chance. We've already seen the devastating consequences of risky oil drilling with the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and, more recently, the tragic oil spill in Santa Barbara in May. If Big Oil was caught flat-footed in the balmy Gulf of Mexico and coastal California, how can we trust them to operate safely amidst the punishing conditions of the Arctic? We can't -- not when the Interior Department itself has already concluded there is a 75% chance of a major oil spill from oil production in the Chukchi... and no proven method for cleanup. It's up to people like you and me to make sure that we never have to face an Arctic oil catastrophe. Please add your voice to mine to save the Arctic from Big Oil's reckless assault. Let's not forget: Shell's last attempt to drill in these fragile waters produced an alarming series of accidents, failures and harrowing close calls. In one notorious incident, Shell's enormous 260-foot drill rig carrying 150,000 gallons of diesel fuel ran aground near wildlife-rich Kodiak Island. NRDC has already filed suit in federal court to block Shell's drilling operation and hold the Obama Administration accountable -- but time is running out and legal action may not be enough. We should be investing in a clean energy future, not putting the fate of our last pristine ocean -- and its endangered wildlife -- in the hands of a climate-wrecking oil giant with an appalling record of accidents. If you feel the same, please say you'll stand with me and NRDC in making your voice heard at the White House right away. Sincerely, Robert Redford Trustee, NRDC

The mission of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is to safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.

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Save the Sage Grouse, Save the West!

Save the Sage Grouse, Save the West! Support strong protections to save the iconic sage grouse -- one of the most fascinating birds in the American West. TAKE ACTION Ever see a sage grouse's mating display, Friend? It's a saucy strut, as flamboyant and hilarious as they come. But what's happening to their habitat is certainly no laughing matter. The population of this iconic western bird has plummeted from an estimated 16 million to as few as 200,000 today. Oil and gas drilling, livestock grazing, mining and other threats in the West's vast sagebrush sea have cut into its habitat and shrunk its mating grounds. Here's the good news: The Obama Administration has released plans to save the greater sage grouse -- and they're inviting public comments on it through the end of this month. That means we have just a few weeks to mobilize massive nationwide pressure on President Obama to take urgent action to save the sage grouse. Will you add your voice? Tell President Obama to support strong sage grouse protections! These historic plans are the linchpin of one of the administration's biggest land and wildlife conservation efforts. I'll be honest: We're up against the forces of Big Oil, Big Coal, the mining industry -- to name a few -- and their allies in Washington who will stop at nothing to preserve their rights to plunder our natural heritage. But we're taking them on because this fight is too important to lose. Protecting the sage grouse will also protect hundreds of other imperiled species -- including mule deer, pronghorn, elk and golden eagles -- and some 70 million acres of sagebrush habitat on which they depend. So if we can save the sage grouse, we can save the American West as we know it. Are you willing to sacrifice this iconic bird -- and its vibrant ecosystem -- all for a drop in the bucket of industry's bottom line? I know I'm not. Join me in urging President Obama to stand strong for the sage grouse now. Growing up in Colorado and spending so much of my childhood in our spectacular national parks, the American West holds a special place in my heart. I'm determined to fight every day to protect it. I hope you'll join me. As always, thank you for your support. Rhea Suh President, NRDC The mission of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is to safeguard the Earth: its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends.

Climate change deniers in Congress complain about a lack of data while trying to defund NASA’s climate change research

onEarth

The magazine of the Natural Resources Defense Council

PHOTO: NASA/GSFC/LANDSAT

MORE EVIDENCE! NO, WAIT...LESS EVIDENCE!

Climate change deniers in Congress complain about a lack of data while trying to defund NASA’s climate change research.

BY BRIAN PALMER | @PALMERBRIAN | 1 day ago

The House of Representatives’ Science, Space, and Technology Committee wants NASA to stop talking about climate change. The committee’s recently proposed budget would cut the agency’s earth science funding by $300 million to $500 million per year. That’s money the agency uses to improve climate models, maintain observation satellites, predict the scale and path of extreme storms, monitor the loss of sea ice, and track wildfires. For more than 30 years, NASA has led government research on climate change.

Either this is the first intentionally ironic budget in the House’s history, or the committee members have alarmingly short memories. According to these very same politicians, the current problems with climate change science are inadequate evidence and a lack of certainty. Here is a sampling of comments from some of them (all emphasis mine):

• Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX): “Contrary to the claims of those who want to strictly regulate carbon dioxide emissions and increase the cost of energy for all Americans, there is a great amount of uncertainty associated with climate science.”
• Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI): “I think that the science is inconclusive on this.”
• Representative Mo Brooks (R-AL): “I’m approaching the issue with a healthy degree of skepticism. If the evidence is there to prove it, then so be it.”
• Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY): “I would challenge [President Obama] toshow us the linkage—the undeniable linkage—between droughts and the change of weather, and some kind of human activity.”

Please pardon my confusion. If these distinguished congressmen are so open to new evidence, so eager to have the climate change “debate” settled by solid data, why do they want to cut funding to the agency most responsible for developing the science? Wait a minute…do you think, just maybe, they don’t want NASA collecting any more evidence, because it might further undermine their “uncertainty” argument and make their science denial even harder to accept? The shamelessness of climate change deniers still surprises me sometimes, even after all these years of lying, disingenuousness, and misdirection.

The House committee took it a step further last week. In his press release announcing the budget, Chairman Smith trumpeted the support of the Planetary Society, a prominent advocate for space exploration. He even went out of his way to note that Bill Nye, one of the world’s most vocal campaigners for climate change action, leads the Planetary Society. How could Nye’s organization support a bill that guts climate change science?

It couldn’t. In fact, the Planetary Society only supports one aspect of the budget: the part relating to space exploration.

“It’s clear my letter was only talking about space exploration,” said Casey Dreier, the Planetary Society’s director of advocacy. “It was clearly too subtle, and we’ve had to aggressively clarify our position.”

Subtlety is generally a mistake in politics. In a blog post published the day after Smith’s press release, Dreier stated unambiguously, “Obviously, the cuts to Earth Science make this a hard bill to support, therefore The Planetary Society cannot support the full bill as written at this early stage.”

Of course, Smith knew Bill Nye and his organization would never support a bill aimed at defunding climate change research. The depressing (although not particularly surprising) reality is that Smith took the Planetary Society’s letter out of context and exploited it.

If this is to be the state of our political discourse, maybe we should pour all of NASA’s money into planetary exploration. Reasonable people might need a place to live.
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Countries all over the world have been crushing or burning their ivory stockpiles

NRDC BioGems Defenders

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Countries all over the world have been crushing or burning their ivory stockpiles to symbolize their commitment to strengthening wildlife trafficking laws and punishments for those (like poachers) who break them. Here in the U.S., we're still waiting. Tell President Obama to take immediate action to shut down the U.S. ivory trade (the second largest in the world) by going to www.nrdc.org/ivory. THANK YOU to all of you who have already taken action -- every voice matters in this fight. -Claire

Congo sends its ivory up in flames, joining a global fight against wildlife trafficking

In the quest to save elephants, ivory stockpiles all around the world are going up in flames.

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