Tag Archives: United States Secretary of the Interior

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

67 Million tons of global warming pollution

05/30/2013 Nativegrl77

The Department of the Interior is about to let a coal company dig up 67 million tons of global warming pollution on public lands. Coal train

There are just two days before the first public comment period closes. Submit a comment today.

There are only two days left in the first public comment period on a decision that determines whether 67 million tons of global warming pollution stays in the ground.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) is about to let an Australian company called Ambre Energy dig up hundreds of acres of public lands to expand its West Decker Coal Mine. All for more of the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive fossil fuel on the planet.
The impact of this one mine is astonishing. Coal produced from the mine’s expansion would release as much carbon pollution as 14 million cars do in a year.
Ambre wants to keep these processes with the DOI quick, quiet and out of the public eye. But if we flood the DOI with public comments, we can shine a spotlight on this climate disaster to stop it from moving forward.
With only two days remaining before the first public comment period deadline, every comment counts. Make a comment now to keep millions of tons of coal in the ground where it belongs.
This coal mine isn’t just bad news for the climate. It’s also an exploitation of our public lands for corporate profits.
The federal coal leasing program run by the DOI has already given coal companies $29 billion in subsidies by selling the rights to publicly-owned coal for a fraction of what it’s worth.
Ambre Energy wants to mine more publicly-owned coal at low costs, and then sell that coal overseas at inflated prices for bigger returns. Coal companies like Ambre win, people and the climate lose.
It’s time to stop the exploitation of our public lands and the climate for the benefit of Ambre Energy’s bottom line. There are just two days left to add your voice.
Thanks to supporters like you, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell has heard from the public about the problems with the DOI’s coal leasing program since day one of her term. But our campaign won’t stop until she takes action to end it permanently.
The West Decker Coal Mine expansion – like the entire DOI coal leasing program – is undermining the Obama administration’s commitment to reduce global warming pollution.
If we’re going to be serious about fighting climate change, then we have to get serious about the biggest sources of global warming pollution. We can’t be drilling for oil in the Arctic or building the Keystone XL pipeline. And we certainly can’t be opening up new federal lands to coal mining.
New fossil fuel projects like the West Decker Coal Mine threaten to send our climate past a point of no return. Together we have to stop them.
Thanks for taking action and for all that you do.
For the planet,
Kelly Mitchell Greenpeace Climate and Energy Campaigner

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Department of Interior responds to our comments

10/05/2010 Nativegrl77

Strengthening Science at the DOI
After receiving more than 10,000 comments from UCS supporters—Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued a strong scientific integrity policy.

Department of Interior Responds to Our Comments

Last month, we asked UCS supporters like you to submit comments regarding the Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) draft scientific integrity policy. The policy would have done little to prevent the kind of manipulation and distortion of science that has skewed decisions on everything from underwater oil drilling to endangered species.

Last Wednesday—after receiving more than ten thousand comments from UCS supporters—Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued a radically different scientific integrity policy that addresses most of the issues we raised. Read our reaction here.

I heard personally from staff at the DOI that they relied heavily upon our input in shaping the new policy, and it’s clear that this public pressure convinced them to do the right thing. Together, we made sure the DOI heard loud and clear that the public supports strong actions to protect government science.

On the heels of this victory, we need to ensure strong scientific integrity standards like these are in place throughout the federal government.

In September, UCS released the results of a survey of government scientists who work on food safety—hundreds reported political interference in their work over the past year. These results clearly illustrate the need for better protection for whistleblowers, the right for scientists to speak publicly about their work, and other critical reforms to defend science from political interference.

In March 2009, President Obama asked the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to create a detailed plan to protect the integrity of science throughout the federal government. In September, the president’s science advisor told us a plan would come by the end of 2010, and we intend to hold the White House to this promise. In the meantime, you can track the administration’s progress here.

Sincerely,

Michael Halpern
National Field Organizer
UCS Scientific Integrity Program

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Stop Liberty,BP’s Next Big Drilling Disaster

09/27/2010 Nativegrl77

Urge Interior Secretary Salazar to stop BP‘s next drilling disaster before it even happens!

Right now the only thing standing between BP and its next big drilling disaster is the Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar. BP built a gravel drilling island three miles off Alaska’s north coast and classified the Liberty drilling project as “onshore,” thereby dodging the recent moratorium on offshore drilling in the arctic waters off Alaska. BP calls Liberty one of its “biggest challenges to date,” and if it moves forward, the company will push the limits of drilling in Alaska’s Arctic, just as it pushed the limits of deepwater drilling in the Gulf with the Deepwater Horizon.

What BP is proposing is crazy. The company’s current plan calls for a well to be drilled that extends two miles below the seabed and then six to eight miles sideways to get at the oil they believe lies below federal waters in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea. It’s a disaster waiting to happen in a place where it’s simply impossible to respond to and clean up a large oil spill.

Allowing the company responsible for the worst oil spill in US history to attempt such a risky drilling project in the ice-infested waters of Alaska is the true definition of insanity repeating the same mistakes yet expecting different results. Take action now and ask Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to stop BP from moving forward with Liberty.

It took BP more than three months to end the gusher in the Gulf, and the region will be feeling the effects of the nearly 5 million barrels of oil that were spilled for decades to come. Alaska’s arctic marine environment is even more fragile than the Gulf of Mexico, and moreover, BP lacks adequate response assets in this remote part of the state where darkness, intense cold and storms, and solid or broken sea ice are the norm for much of the year. It’s no wonder the US Coast Guard called an oil spill in Arctic waters a “nightmare scenario.”

BP’s own analysis says there’s an eight percent chance of a large oil spill at Liberty. Would you get onto a plane if the pilot told you there was an eight percent chance of it crashing? Didn’t think so.

BP has already built Liberty Island and has received all of its permits except for one the federal government’s final sign off on BP’s “application for a permit to drill.” Secretary Salazar can deny this final permit, urge him to stop BP’s next big drilling disaster now.

Sincerely,

Melanie Duchin
Arctic Program Director