Big News for the Arctic — Appeals Court’s ruling put Shell’s summer drilling plans in limbo. Now is our chance to turn up the pressure. Tell Secretary Jewell to cancel the lease under which Shell plans to drill in the Alaskan Arctic this summer.

A federal court just dealt a huge blow to Shell’s plans to drill for oil in the Alaskan Arctic this year.
The court ruled that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) — the federal agency that permits oil companies to drill offshore — intentionally downplayed the impact Arctic oil drilling would have on the fragile environment of the Arctic Ocean.

This beautiful place is home to hundreds of Alaskan Native communities in addition to wildlife like polar bears, seals and whales.
This agency has a history of failing to protect our coastline from oil spills — like the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. This time a court caught their mistake.
This ruling is a big deal for Arctic protection. The proposed drilling area at the center of the case is the same one that Shell notoriously failed to drill last year, due to its own negligence. It’s the same area Shell is chomping at the bit to get at again this summer.
This is one of our best chances to stop Shell. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell oversees BOEM and has the power to make sure this lease does not go through.
Send a message to Secretary Jewell today, urging her to cancel this lease and stop Shell from drilling in the Arctic in 2014.
Meanwhile, things are not looking good for Shell. In 2012, its drill ship ran aground and it could not meet the basic requirements of its permits. The company is desperate to put the humiliations in encountered in 2012 behind it. To make matters worse, its investors are becoming increasingly worried. The company invested over $5 billion into its Arctic drilling plans — and has nothing to show for it.
All indications say this is causing Shell’s investors to lose their patience. If we get this lease cancelled and stop Shell from drilling again this year, they might not get another chance. Help us keep the campaign momentum going by telling Secretary Jewell to cancel this lease sale and keep Shell out of the Arctic in 2014.
We have the world on our side. A few days ago, the movement to create a global sanctuary in the Arctic surpassed five million people. There aren’t many movements in the world that can claim victories like this. Together, we can protect the Alaskan Arctic this year.
For the Arctic,
Gustavo Ampugnani Greenpeace Arctic Campaigner

A new highly toxic pesticide is threatening honeybees. Tell the EPA to take action and ban this chemical immediately.

Mark Floegel, Greenpeace

This week, beekeepers across the country are waking their hives from winter hibernation to pollinate blooming almond orchards in California. But many honeybees won’t buzz back to life at all.
A deadly bee illness called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is sweeping across the US. Just last winter CCD wiped out almost a third of the nation’s hives.
We don’t know all the factors that cause CCD, but we do know one guilty party: A class of pesticides — known as neonicotinoids — that studies have shown to weaken, disorient and kill honeybees.
Despite the evidence, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just last year approved a new Dow pesticide called sulfoxaflor, which its own research showed was “highly toxic” to bees. To save the honeybee, the EPA needs to step up. And fast.
Demand that the EPA take its first big step towards saving the bee populations that we all depend on. Tell the agency to ban sulfoxaflor — the newest bee-killing pesticide to hit the market.
Because over 115,000 people like you demanded action last year, the EPA made bee health a higher priority — adding warning labels on neonic pesticides and even funding new research about their effects this month.
But this progress isn’t enough to save the bees. The agency still hasn’t reversed approval of neonic pesticides. Even poisoning events like the deaths of over 25,000 bumble bees in an Oregon parking lot after pesticide exposure aren’t holding the EPA’s attention.
That’s why beekeepers, farmers and environmental groups have joined together to file a legal brief against the newly approved pesticide sulfoxaflor — a chemical the EPA’s own studies admits are essentially bee poison.¹ We need public pressure to ensure the EPA takes this legal action seriously and moves faster to protect bees. Tell the EPA to withdraw its approval of the pesticide sulfoxaflor, which its own reports call “highly toxic” to bees.
Convincing the EPA to change course is far from impossible.
After millions of Greenpeace supporters and others spoke for the bees in Europe, the European Union has suspended the use of neonics. And four state legislatures — Alaska, Maine, New Jersey and Vermont — are looking to do the same. Around the world, governments are realizing that trying to solve all agricultural problems with chemical additives is simply reckless.
Together we can ensure not only that bees are safe, but that our agriculture supports nature, rather than manipulates and destroys it.
For the bees,
Mark Floegel Greenpeace Senior Investigator and Beekeeper
P.S. Help honeybees from dying of pesticide exposure. Tell the EPA to ban sulfoxaflor, a pesticide considered highly toxic to bees.
1. “Center for Food Safety Joins Fight Against Newest Bee-killer, Sulfoxaflor,” Center for Food Safety, December 16th, 2013