A Parting Gift to Big Oil

Bad News for Sea Turtles Last week’s passage of harmful drilling legislation will threaten sea turtles, dolphins and other precious wildlife. In the months ahead, we will keep fighting, with your help, for clean, renewable energy solutions that better protect our wildlife. > Learn More > Adopt a Sea Turtle Before leaving town last Friday, the 109th Congress offered up one final gift to Big Oil: 8.3 million acres of our waters in the Gulf of Mexico. More than 33,000 Defenders activists like you sent messages to their Representatives to stop this giveaway. Hundreds more took time out of their day to personally call their Members of Congress and urge them to reject legislation to expand harmful oil and gas drilling. There’s no doubt your efforts had an effect. Earlier in the week, Representatives supporting the bill were forced to cancel a vote after it became clear that the legislation lacked the votes to pass. And earlier efforts forced Congress to nix a House bill by former California Representative Richard Pombo that would have been even worse than the one passed last week. Unfortunately, we lost this last vote when drilling proponents attached their bill to an unrelated tax bill. I won’t sugarcoat it: this is a very tough loss. The area where new drilling will occur is home to more than 20 species of whales and dolphins, five species of sea turtles, dozens of fish species and hundreds of species of birds. New drilling will mean more air pollution, noise disruptions and toxic emissions from drilling platforms, along with increased tanker traffic (and the spill risks that come with it) -- all in an area teaming with some of America’s most precious marine wildlife. Like you, we know that energy security need not come at the expense of our wildlife. And, in the months ahead, we will keep fighting for clean, renewable energy and the wildlife we all love. Sincerely, Rodger Schlickeisen President Defenders of Wildlife P.S. We’ll be working hard in 2007 to safeguard marine wildlife. If you would like to help support our work, please consider adopting a sea turtle at WildlifeAdoption.org. Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Donate | Defenders Home

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