Obama Administration Closes Arctic and Atlantic Coasts to New Offshore Drilling

Five-year plan keeps crucial bird habitat safe from new oil and gas leases. Yesterday, Nov. 18, National Audubon Society issued a press release announcing that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will remove the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans from offshore leasing for the next five years, through 2022. This move protects areas with critical wildlife habitat.

That Atlantic waters would not be in the lease plan is not a surprise, Audubon says on its website: "The Obama administration announced in March of this year that it would not pursue leases there after an outcry from environmental and business groups and, more surprisingly, the Pentagon, which claimed that oil rigs would impede offshore training exercises critical to protecting the East Coast."

But until this most recent announcement, three leases in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, and 10 sales in the Gulf, were still under consideration. It is those three Arctic sites that have been pulled from the latest lease plan.

"Hitting the pause button on offshore drilling in the Arctic is exactly the right thing to do,” said David Yarnold, president and CEO of the National Audubon Society. “Offshore drilling is a dirty and dangerous business, and removing the Arctic Ocean from the offshore leasing plan gives everyone time to think hard about how well water and oil mix. The Obama administration understands that the productivity of our oceans is jeopardized when we drill in the wrong places. We should be thinking first about protecting ocean life and quickly moving to cleaner sources of energy."

According to the National Audubon Society, there are 10 "globally-significant Important Bird Areas" that support millions of birds in the Arctic Ocean and along its shoreline in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The Chukchi and Beaufort seas also tout polar bears, walruses, four species of ice seals, and several species of whales.

“The Arctic Ocean contains vital ecological areas that are critical for the survival of many birds and wildlife species,” said Nils Warnock, Executive Director for Audubon Alaska. “This prudent five-year program prevents new leasing in this crucial habitat at a time of unprecedented ecological change in the Arctic.”

Audubon stresses that offshore from Barrow, the farthest north community in the US, lies a a hot spot of biodiversity. The seafloor drops dramatically and creates an underwater canyon there. When the cold Arctic current encounters this barrier, it rises to create a fertile upwelling of foods consumed by many types of larger marine animals, such as bowhead and beluga whales.

Then in the shallower waters of Harrison Bay, millions of birds congregate to tap rich aquatic foods. The Colville River is Alaska’s largest Arctic river, and the nutrient supply from the Colville combines with water from Harrison Bay. The sheltered waters support diverse bird species of concern, from Artic terns to Yellow-billed loons, from Surf scoters to King eiders. The Proposed Final Program now goes to Congress for a 60-day period, before BOEM registers the final Record of Decision.

Donald J. Trump takes office January 20, and the Republicans will control both the House and the Senate. There is grave concern in environmental quarters about what the president-elect and his administration will or won't do concerning wildlife protection and climate change. Theoretically or practically, any actions Obama has taken could be reversed under President Trump. FOR MORE INFORMATION: The Vital Arctic Ocean Areas Storymap highlights ecologically important areas, told through articles written by Arctic field biologists and researchers. The National Audubon Society saves birds and their habitats throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation.

PHOTO: An Arctic tern; Wikimedia Commons Image, Andreas Weith, Aug. 3, 2015: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:AWeith

$370 Million Win for Gulf Restoration Announced Today

Today, Nov. 15, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) approved a nearly $370 million investment in 24 new Gulf Coast restoration projects. The sum includes $245 million dedicated specifically to five Louisiana coastal restoration projects, and $100 million to be set aside for engineering and designing what they say are "two key restoration projects" in the state, the Mid-Barataria and Mid-Breton Sediment Diversions. Louisiana bore the brunt of the 2010 BP oil spill and Corexit damage, with the environmental catastrophe occurring off its shores; and even now, nearly six years later, is experiencing eco-system and wildlife degradation in the marshes and environs. "NFWF will ultimately dedicate $2.5 billion from BP’s criminal fines towards restoring the habitats of the Gulf Coast that were impacted by the spill," NFWF said in a statement.

Restore the Mississippi River Delta – which includes Environmental Defense Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, National Audubon Society, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana and Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation – released the following statement:

“Today’s announcement signals progress on two vitally important coastal restoration projects in Louisiana. The Mid-Barataria and Mid-Breton Sediment Diversions are key to reversing Louisiana’s land loss trend, by mimicking the natural land-building processes of the Mississippi River and carrying water and sediment into degraded wetlands to build new land.

“Diversions are a critical component of a comprehensive restoration and protection strategy for Louisiana. They can help revive Louisiana’s coastal wetlands – part of America’s largest delta – to a productive, functioning state, which provides important ecological and economic opportunities and benefits for people and wildlife.

“As the state of Louisiana engages in the 2017 Coastal Master Plan process, we must ensure the plan covers a suite of coastal restoration and protection projects, including these keystone diversions."

Pres. and CEO of the NFWF, Collin O’Mara, said in his statement:

“Several of these projects are critical efforts to restore more natural water flows in degraded areas. Today’s announcement includes $100 million for the engineering and design of two key projects in Louisiana that will mimic natural river processes by allowing fresh water and sediment to reach rapidly-eroding wetlands. Similarly, the construction of two freshwater siphons in Texas’ Salt Bayou watershed will help recreate natural flows to 18,000 acres of wetlands damaged by saltwater intrusion.

“There are three main streams of Gulf restoration funding and we appreciate NFWF’s efforts to create synergies with projects from other sources. For example, today’s announcement of $16 million to benefit sea turtles and marine mammals will amplify ongoing efforts to reduce sea turtle by-catch and monitor their nesting success.

“Finally, this money will secure key ecosystems on the Alabama and Mississippi coasts, enlarging protected habitats in rapidly developing coastal areas. All of these efforts will improve the health and resiliency of the Gulf and benefit people and wildlife.”

PHOTO: The Brown Pelican, the Louisiana State Bird. Via Wikimedia Commons Images: By Terry Foote [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Upcoming climate conference COP22 previewed by State Department today

Special Envoy for Climate Change at the U.S Department of State Dr. Jonathan Pershing and Director for Energy and Climate Change for the National Security Council John Morton previewed the upcoming COP 22 Climate Conference for reporters this morning. The call began at 10:30 a.m. ET and included an opportunity for questions from reporters from Bloomberg, The New York Times, NPR, and Wall Street Journal, among others. Of the questions, a notable theme emerged: would the progress made following the Paris Agreement be for naught should Donald J. Trump become President? The conference kicks off in Marrakech, Morocco Nov. 7 and lasts through the 18th. Representatives and heads of state from all over the world will attend. Simultaneously, the 12th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 12) will be held there. Morton introduced the call to cheer work being done on the part of the Obama Administration. "We’re coming into this year’s COP with a tremendous amount of positive momentum. Reaching the Paris Agreement in December of last year was clearly a watershed moment for the international community and one that was appropriately reported in that way," adding that by all measures, 2016 has been a "truly historic year for international climate action." Morton said in the last two months alone there has been a "rapid entry into force of the Paris Agreement" which has occurred, he claimed, "much, much faster, years faster, than most people expected. And with that entry into force, that puts us on a much accelerated path toward implementation of the goals that we laid out in Paris a year ago." On October 5 of this year, as noted on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website, "the threshold for entry into force of the Paris Agreement was achieved." The Paris Agreement will enter into force tomorrow, November 4. Thus, this will be the very first session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement. However, as the reporters' line of questioning today reveals, Americans and in turn the world, have much to fear should Hillary Clinton not win the Oval Office. Donald J. Trump does not believe climate change is real. Or if he does, he's hiding it behind the kind of inane and vitriolic nonsense that would be shameful in a fifth grade science class. Climate change is not a "hoax", as Trump alleges, and this conference is key. Pershing and Morton today expressed the importance of adaptive technologies and procedures, for example, which can help communities deal with the effects of flood, drought, and sea level rise on the heels of the warmest year on record. Morton said, "In many cases the focus is on adapting, but at the same time local and state governments have a lot to do and are doing a lot already on the mitigation side – [be they] policies, plans, codes, or zoning requirements," for example. These are often heavily as focused on mitigation as they are on adaptation "and we will have some adaptation-related announcements about this during COP." Pershing said three takeaways of the conference should be: 1. "To make the world aware we [meaning Americans and the global community, one assumes] are continuing to prioritize this issue"; 2 "To work to develop rules and guidelnes to put more flesh on the framework developed in Paris"; and 3 To work on implementing and putting into action what was drawn out in Paris, manfiesting from "both the US and a variety of people around the world" as there is an accelerated move toward emissions reductions.

READ the transcript of today's call here. PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons: By Wolf Gang - On global warming, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=48067856.

Pregnant bottlenose dolphins give birth to premies, high mortality post BP spill

A new study published today shows that in the years following the April, 2010 through July 15, 2010, an unusually high number of pregnant dolphins gave birth to too small offspring. Many of these premies who were less than 115 cm in size had died by the time their bodies washed up along the shores of the Northern Gulf of Mexico.

Scientists wrote in Inter-Research Diseases of Aquatic Organisms that when comparing 69 bottlenose perinatal dolphin strandings to 26 reference strandings from another period at Florida and South Carolina, far more were found to have died shorty after birth (88 versus 15 percent), have pneumonia not linked to lungworm infection (65 versus 19 percent), and have fetal distress (87 percent versus 27 percent).

"These results support that from 2011 to 2013, during the northern Gulf of Mexico UME (Unusual Mortality Event), bottlenose dolphins were particularly susceptible to late-term pregnancy failures and development of in utero infections."

The news comes almost six years after the BP oil spill began in the Gulf, an event lasting 87 days before the Macondo well was capped. Copious amounts of controversial and highly toxic dispersant Corexit, banned in the UK, were airdropped in affected areas following the spill. Many studies are being conducted on effects of the dispersants, which have been worse on mammalian health, many say, than the oil alone.

The study's lead author was Kathleen M. Colegrove from the Zoological Pathology Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This article was originally published on Examiner.com, Apr. 12, 2016Photo: courtesy of Wikimedia Commons Images. A bottlenose dolphin, http://www.public-domain-image.com/public-domain-images-pictures-free-stock-photos/fauna-animals-public-domain-images-pictures/dolphins-public-domain-images-pictures/bottlenose-dolphin.jpg, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

DC Ocean conference previewed, reveals plastic bans upcoming and other changes

In a conference call today from Washington, D.C., the Our Ocean conference, to be hosted by Secretary of State John Kerry, was previewed for reporters. The September 15 to 16 event, according to its website, has been designed to "catalyze actions" to protect the ocean from human-induced threats -- including unsustainable and illegal fishing, marine pollution, and climate-related impacts -- and "to empower a new generation to lead the way toward a healthy and sustainable ocean." Some of the speakers at the event will include Ministers of Fisheries and Foreign Affairs and other heads of state from around the world as well as actor-cum-environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio and other environmentalists, and industry big wigs. Speaking at 12 ET were Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Catherine Novelli and Special Envoy for Climate Change Dr. Jonathan Pershing. After speaking, they took a handful of calls from reporters from AP and other news agencies as well as me. The takeaways: - Firstly, on the website, Sectretary of State John Kerry says, “We have to keep the momentum going so that we can come together and protect our ocean. Why? Because our ocean is absolutely essential for life itself – not just the food, but the oxygen and weather cycles of the planet all depend on the ocean.” - Secondly, the event organizers expect to effect real change following this, the third annual Our Ocean conference. Novelli pointed out that last year, the result was $4 billion in "ocean conservation activity" and this "ended up with marine protected areas, which are like national parks in the ocean." Novelli intimated that more marine protected areas could result from this conference. - Seventy-one percent of Earth's surface is made up of our ocean, which is vulnerable to the effects of climate change, i.e. acidification, as well as overfishing and other ills. - During the conference there will be an announcement on the website regarding banning of plastic bags in some countries. When AP science writer Seth Borenstein asked which countries, and if that included the US, Novelli paused and then encouraged the reporter to check the website during the conference. - In response to this reporter's inquiry about how a new Administration, i.e. one that does not support the reality of climate change, could affect work the organizers are doing, Novelli was quick to assert that the conference will continue for at least three more years. "What's so exciting is that because this (the problems in the ocean) has now been elevated and so many countries are involved, the EU has announced they will host the next conference in 2017 for our ocean; but, what is not known and will be announced, [though we aren't announcing yet which} countries and which years, is we know this will continue and we are very, very excited about that.” - And in response to this reporter's query about the Paris Agreement being non-binding and how that could impact their results at the conference, Pershing said in part, "The meetings were meant to be the start of a process, not the end. I've been talking to people and they are now implementing [aspects of the Agreement.] He said that the ramifications are "not just a legal exercise, but a political exercise" and affect the countries at a very deep level. There's been a sharp decline in some alternative energy source prices, he said, and a move toward renewables. "In the the last eight years since we've been in office, the price of solar is down by a factor of 10" and wind and geothermal, too are compeitive, he said. "This shows we won't reverse course."

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Bent_Sea_Rod_Bleaching_%2815011207807%29.jpg By U.S. Geological Survey from Reston, VA, USA (Bent Sea Rod Bleaching) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Coral bleaching is largely the result of warming seas, which is caused by global warming.

Gulf environmental groups respond positively to update of restoration plan

Today, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council published an update of its Comprehensive Plan, worth billions, to restore the gulf post-BP oil spill. It augments the original comprehensive plan approved two years earlier.

One of the highlights of the report was that the Council is affirming its commitment to incorporate the best available science, which they note "will evolve over time" and with "changing conditions." One example of a science-based funding priority is developing "science tools to support freshwater inflow restoration" and prioritizing future conservation. Further, the Council is committed to studying the Lower Mississippi River to "support more holistic river management."

The plan's reaffirmation of the Council's commitment to science-based and other funding priorities is consistent with Congressional decree

: projects that are "projected to make the greatest contribution to restoring and protecting the natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches, and coastal wetlands of the Gulf region;" large-scale projects to restore and protect natural resources, ecosystems, fisheries, marine and wildlife habitats, beaches and coastal wetlands; projects contained in existing Gulf Coast State comprehensive plans for restoration and protection of the aforementioned; and projects that restore long-term resiliency of the region's ecosystem, fisheries, and the like.

Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said of the update: “For wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon disaster is not over. More than six years after the well was capped, dolphins are still dying, corals are still damaged, and sea turtles are still struggling to nest. The comprehensive plan as updated would help ensure billions of dollars are spent well on restoring the Gulf. We’re pleased with many elements of the draft—particularly the emphasis on coordination at all levels and the support for efforts at a scale that will deliver cumulative benefits to the Gulf of Mexico.

And Kara Lankford, interim director for Ocean Conservancy’s Gulf Restoration Program, said in a written statement: "

“The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council is headed in the right direction, and we think this updated plan represents progress. This plan update wasn’t due until 2018, so the Council is ahead of schedule. The Council has a huge task ahead to help restore the environment of the Gulf region. Commendably, they have committed to restoring the Gulf ecosystem by working in a more holistic fashion, rather than state by state, or agency by agency. Dolphins and many other Gulf wildlife swim across state lines, and that is why it is necessary for Council members to work together to restore the Gulf ecosystem as a whole. Likewise, we’re pleased to see the Council include a renewed commitment to updating and improving how science will be utilized in its project selection processes.”

The Council will also hold a number of public and Tribal meetings across the Gulf to hear from the public and Tribes regarding this update. The locations, dates, and times for the public meetings can be found at RestoretheGulf.gov.

Caption: By U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region - Oil arrives on Bon Secour (La.) Uploaded by AlbertHerring, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=29827305

Five years writing about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and far more remains to be said.

When the Apr. 20, 2010 BP oil spill made the news that evening, this reporter didn't think too much of it. I remember looking away, figuring it was a small fire that would probably end within hours. But that was not to be. It soon became apparent that the deaths of 11 good men who worked on the rig would besmirch BP's name in a way no bad PR ever could. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the oil bled for 87 days despite numerous attempts by Admiral Thad Allen and team to cap the Macondo well. When it was finally shut down July 15, 2010, the spin was that all was well: many of us knew otherwise. Thousands of birds, marine life, marsh areas and humans were impacted in a way no other U.S. environmental disaster's ever pummelled us. On July 10 of that year, I began reporting for Examiner (some call it "blogging") because I wanted to keep covering this story as it happened. As a freelance writer, which I've enjoyed pretty much full-time since 2008, and part-time off and on since college, I nevertheless spend many hours/days/even months waiting for editors to reply to pitches. I knew that after a couple of unsuccessful queries, this story just didn't have time to percolate in the Manhattan offices of busy editors who were looking for angles and news "hooks." By January of 2011, I interviewed Dr. Samantha ("Mandy") Joye, a Univ. of Ga. biogeochemist who made national news for telling it like it was out in the Gulf. She'd been deep diving there long before anyone though of BP other than when they got gas. I felt fortunate to get this noted scientist to talk to me, even if it meant an e-mail conversation. Soon after receiving her answers back, I was in for a surprise: her staff asked if I'd join Justin Gillis of The New York Times, Richard Harris of NPR, and a CNN producer down in Georgia in a couple of weeks to speak about how we could better communicate after disasters such as these, as part of a symposium called "Building Bridges in Crisis." Of course I would, and looking back, it was a definite highlight of my career. Even then, when giving my speech about the dead dolphins, the turtles washing up on shore, the sick people working on the Vessels of Opportunity, I knew that we could easily meet back in a year or two or even 10. I knew the Gulf of Mexico was a mess and this story was far from over. Sadly, I was right. Further, Corexit dispersants doused by the gallon-full and airdropped along the Gulf reached an estimated 1.84 million gallons. These dispersants aren't even used in the very country in which they're manufactured, England; and since the spill, California's successfully passed legislation to block such reactions to spills. (Good timing considering the recent Santa Barbara spill.) In 2012 I would write a story for AARP on Dr. Sylvia Earle, the National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence who keynoted at the UGA conference. Dr. Earle talked to me at length about the dangers of Corexit, how she spoke before Congress on this, and how "out of sight does not mean out of mind." She knew only too well, as would noted toxicologist Riki Ott, how Corexit sickened the dolphins, turtles and precious other sea creatures and birds in the Gulf, how it made everyone and everything worse. Its only "benefit" was that it kept a lot of the oil from travelling further into the marshes, while along the way choking the life out of fish and birds feeding innocently at Barataria Bay on their morning dispersant-soaked worms. Here are five of what I consider my most impactful posts concerning the wildlife and marine life affected by the BP oil disaster. These stories stand apart from the equally horrific blight that has affected the thousands of Gulf residents, especially those who lived or worked in Zone A (the most affected areas), following the spill. 1. Dr. Joye explains why we owe it to the ecosystem to learn from the oil spill: Dr. Joye was one of the first scientists to speak the truth about what was going on on the sea floor. In further months she'd draw a link between the spill and methane pollution down deep into the water column. In our Jan. 6 e-mail interview, she told me: "NOAA claims that 75 percent of the oil from the blowout is 'gone.' I would argue that a lot of that oil has 'landed on' the bottom…it’s not 'gone' and it’s still having an impact, a very negative one!, on the system. Why is this important? Because we need to know how much oil is down there, where it is and what impacts it’s having. This is critical because understanding/documenting the impacts and the system’s recovery from those impacts is essential for truly understanding the repercussions of this blowout." 2. Hundreds of oil-impacted turtles and dozens of dolphins have perished: When I published this story July 29, just a few months after the spill, we were just beginning to grasp the huge disaster this was and how it affected the beautiful sea creatures who grace the Gulf. I reported that, "Seven hundred seventy-seven dead or injured turtles have been documented to date," according to Oceana. Elizabeth Griffin Wilson, marine wildlife scientist and fisheries campaign manager, told me: “No one really knows how many [turtles have died]. That’s one of the big challenges with sea turtles. Once they’re out there in the water they’re really hard to find.” Of the 777 reported by “Unified Command” – which provides Oceana with a daily estimate of wildlife affected by the spill – 283 of those were collected alive and 494 were dead. 3. Ulcerated blue crabs found in Gulf, at Mississippi Sound: When I published this story, we were just beginning to grasp the huge impact the spill had on the shellfish and other marine creatures in the Gulf. Here it was, over two years after the spill, and Lorrie Williams was taking photos of ulcerated crabs along the beach at Gulf Springs, Miss. Ironically, the photographer was and remains suffering as much as the crab in the photo: she's endured pancreatitis, lung polyps, extreme weight loss and other health effects as a result of her and her husband's work out on the waters. 4. Animals keep dying, so where are the official wildlife reports?: It's now been well documented that we'll never know the exact or even near exact numbers of brown pelicans, herons, and other birds that died as a result of the disaster. At the time I published this, it would have boggled everyone's minds to know that Audubon, a couple years later, would cite that over a million birds had died as a result of the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil disaster. 5. BP oil spill 5 years later: NWF cites record numbers of dead turtles, dolphins: The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) reported in "Five Years and Counting: Gulf Wildlife in the Aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon Disaster," 20 different species have been gravely impacted by the spill. (Note, these are just the ones in the report.). Namely, dolphins on the Louisiana coast were found dead at four times historic rates in 2014, and there is increasing evidence that these ongoing deaths are connected to the Apr. 20, 2010 BP oil spill; 2010 and 2011 had the lowest numbers of young red snapper seen in the eastern Gulf fishery since 1994; coral colonies in five separate locations in the Gulf—three in the deep sea and two in shallower waters—are showing signs of oil and or some mixture of oil-and-Corexit damage; and prior to the spill, the number of endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle nests found annually was accelerating, but since 2010 the nests found annually have declined. BP recently settled in principle with the U.S. Dept. of Justice for $18.7 billion for breaching the Clean Water Act and Oil Pollution Act; this is irrespective of the multi-billion-dollar criminal fines it incurred and anything resulting from claimants' medical and other damages.

April 20, 2010 Source: (Via Wikimedia Commons Images) U.S. Coast Guard - 100421-G-XXXXL- Deepwater Horizon fire Author Unknown