Voices for the Arctic Refuge
What happens when the public is given an opportunity to speak out against the Trump Administration’s short-sighted plan to drill for oil on a treasured national wildlife refuge? The public stands up and fights back!
Despite the summer heat, over 200 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge supporters rallied together in Washington, DC before heading into a public hearing established as part of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) 60-day public comment period on the Administration’s reckless plan to begin the lease sale process on the Arctic Refuge’s coastal plain, a wildlife haven and place known to the Gwich’in Nation as the “Sacred Place Where Life Begins.” This was the only hearing granted by BLM outside of Alaska during this stage of the process.
The first hour and a half of the hearing was designated for pre-determined speakers by BLM, including folks from the energy industry, corporate interests, indigenous voices and leaders in the conservation community. This tactic allows for a perceived narrative of “equal representation” to ensure voices on all sides of the issue are heard. BLM went even further to paint a false equivalency by changing the “first come, first served” participation process for the public hearing to a randomized drawing. Yet who did we hear from during the next two and a half hours of the open and public testimony? Not ONE pro-drilling voice. That should be a wake-up call for the administration — when everyone who shows up is opposed to industrialization of the Arctic Refuge — industry-friendly tactics just don’t work.
Until the lights went out at 9pm on Friday evening, we heard testimony after testimony from veterans, school teachers, professors, the faith community, wildlife rehabilitators, conservationists, students, indigenous voices, and Arctic Refuge advocates who drove or bused in from surrounding states, some as far away as upstate New York. A member of the Gwich’in Nation closed the evening by singing a traditional song to the remaining 50 pro-refuge participants, and the panel of representatives from the Interior Department.
At previous hearings in Fairbanks and Anchorage, there were more anti-drilling speakers than pro-drilling — with only one single pro-drilling advocate in Fairbanks. Outside the hearing in Anchorage, almost 200 people showed up with expressive art and signage, there was chanting being led, and speakers from the Gwich’in Nation.
At the end, public testimony was cut off with many people still wishing to speak up. Dozens of people who had picked up a ticket to give public testimony stood up and stated something along the lines of: “I am ticket X and I was not given the chance to speak and I request further hearings in Anchorage, and the rest of the State.” While requests for additional hearings were not granted, Pat Lavin, Defenders’ Senior Alaska Representative, did get a chance to speak about the rushed nature of the process as well as the detriment to wildlife and the landscape of the Arctic Refuge. Pat ended his testimony with a poignant haiku:
Primordial land
Sacred place where life begins
No place for oil rigs
If there is one takeaway, it’s this: No matter what we’re up against, we will not back down until the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is protected once and for all.
- Deanna
