"Chill the Drills" Hits ABQ

7pm Monday, March 22
Location: O’Niell’s Pub, 4310 Central Ave. SE, Albuquerque 87108

Kit McGurn, the Sierra Club’s National Arctic Organizer, will visit Albuquerque to deliver a presentation entitled “Chill the Drills: Oil Development and Climate Change in America’s Arctic”.

The Arctic ecosystem on the North Slope of Alaska represents a microcosm of the realities that society at large faces with regard to fossil fuel dependency, climate change and the importance of protecting our last wild and pristine places. It is the canary in the coal mine with regard to the significant changes our climate system and global ecosystems are undergoing.

The Arctic region is the single most endangered ecosystem on the planet. Climate change caused by human combustion of fossil fuels is causing the Arctic ecosystem to undergo rapid changes, which if left unchecked will fundamentally and permanently degrade this fragile and sparsely studied ecosystem. Scientists have documented major changes such as unprecedented sea ice melt, permafrost thaw, ocean acidification, and coastal erosion, as well as numerous other wildlife and food chain disruptions.

In addition to the deleterious effects of climate change, America’s portion of the Arctic ecosystem and its Native peoples are experiencing widespread environmental degradation and negative subsistence impacts from continued onshore and offshore oil and gas development. The grand irony is that as global climate change undermines the Arctic ecosystem, the federal government and state of Alaska continue to approve additional oil and gas development both on- and offshore.

The Arctic region is the world’s refrigerator. It plays a prominent role in regulating the Earth’s climate and ocean currents. As this ecosystem undergoes rapid changes, it has far reaching effects for the rest of the planet. The changes that scientists are observing in the Arctic ecoregion are underscoring how connected and interdependent our global ecosystems truly are. We ignore the rapid changes occurring in the Far North at our own peril.

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