The Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, the Arctic waters north of Alaska, are sometimes known as America’s ‘Polar Bear Seas’ – and for good reason. One of the most unique marine ecosystems in the world, these waters are home to the entire population of U.S. polar bears and have consequently been designated critical habitat. Many of America’s most beloved sea animals thrive here, including the endangered bowhead whale, walrus, seals and countless birds. This marine wildlife, especially the bowhead whale, is vital to the survival of the subsistence culture of the Inupiat people of Alaska’s North Slope.

The offshore Arctic is suffering from the effects of climate change at unmatched rates. The polar bear’s Arctic sea ice habitat is melting rapidly and experts believe

the polar bear may be extinct by 2050. Any new industrial development in these waters would only add to the effects of climate change already causing stress on Arctic wildlife.

Little is known about the effects of risky, aggressive drilling proposed by the oil industry in these abundant, pristine waters. Currently, there is no proven way to clean up an oil spill in the Arctic’s extreme, icy conditions. We must not move forward with the existing drilling proposals in the Arctic Ocean because there is currently too little sound scientific information about this unique marine ecosystem and a catastrophic oil spill is too great a risk. We should be working to gather the information necessary to determine if, when, where, and how any potential development might take place in the Arctic Ocean.