Canadians sign letter opposing U.S. Arctic drilling in wildlife sanctuary
Thousands of Canadians and two territorial governments have asked American regulators not to allow oil drilling in an Alaskan wildlife sanctuary that is home to a crucial transboundary caribou herd.
The request comes in a letter delivered Tuesday, the last day for comments to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on its plans for an environmental assessment for energy exploration in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, calving grounds for the Porcupine caribou herd.
“Oil and gas extraction has no place in the Arctic refuge,” says the letter, which was organized by several Canadian environmental groups.
More than 14,000 Canadians have signed it. Their voices join more than a half million Americans who have also written the agency to oppose the drilling program.