Sounds like US are venturing to jeopardize the balance of Nature and its possession. The US administration has given acquiescence to seven oil companies to drill oil in the Chuckchi Sea, which is the habitat of a large number of polar bears. Sounds like what President Bush told in his 2006 State of the Union address now finds the way to actuality. Bush had said,
we have a serious problem, America is addicted to oil.
Now this addiction becomes an obsession and is poised to destabilize the existence of polar bears. At this juncture, one point that comes first in mind is why the US companies are targeting the Chuckchi Sea? According to the Mineral Management Service, Chuckchi Sea is one of the few frontier areas where oil and gas deposits could amount to 15 billion barrels of oil (more than Prudhoe Bay).
At the same time, Chuckchi sea is also the owner of another rare natural vanity- 10 percent of the world’s polar bear population. Polar bears are the first creature that was enlisted as the first creature to be affected by the climatic change. The huge loss of ice in summer in 2007 as environment journalist Stephen Leahy puts it has lead many scientists to believe that Arctic could be ice-free in summer as early as 2012. Though the polar bears were declared as endangered species, the official announcement of which was supposed to come on January 9th ,silence reigned in the US Fish and Wildlife Department. This portentous silence, as it might be called, facilitated the auction of 30 million acres of area in Chuckchi Sea, worth $2.6 billion in spite of 670,000 comments in support of protecting the polar bear under Endangered Species Act including letters from eminent polar bear experts and more than 60 members of Congress.
The loss of habitat for the polar bears, lack of food might be fatal. Also, the melting of ice due to oil operations will affect the polar bears as they might drown in the water. At this stage, what comes at the top of the mind is that, had the polar bears been declared endangered on January 9th, the auction of Chuckchi Sea would not have occurred so effortlessly. Adds to this is the productive game of hunting poar bears which is a 2-million dollar per years income for the people of northwest Canada. Such kind of drill is likely to affect not only the polar bears, but also bowhead whales and gray whales. Though the industry claims that it has good records of maintaining the safety measures, it might not be the case everywhere. Oil drilling cannot be done safely in the Arctic offshore ecosystem. There is also a chance of an oil spill which might cause ecological debacle. The Inupiat people’s maritime culture will be hampered. Besides this, normal industry operation like seismic survey, vessel traffic, aircraft, pipe construction will have to bear the impact of the lease.
However, the US government showed its furtive attitude to set the auction for only $2.6 billions as several lawsuits are still awaiting. So , there is a feeble possibility that might nullify the sale altogether and the Government has to return the money to the bidders and stop petroleum operation there completely. At the end of the day, as it seems now, President Bush is correct about how addicted US is to oil, inviting their grief themselves- climatic change, pollution and hence pillaging the resource. The situation is alarming. Keeping in view the battle royale in November, its time to relook into the matter with political intercession.
Via: msnbc