“We cannot afford to burn even a fraction of the fossil fuels we’ve already discovered, if we are to avert catastrophic global warming. Yet John Browne [CEO of BP Amoco] wants to spend $5 billion to open up new oil fields in the Arctic.”

—Gary Cook, Greenpeace Climate Campaign

No New Oil Exploration / Arctic Ocean - Archived

BP Amoco is at the forefront of industry efforts to develop new technology to extract oil from ice-covered Arctic waters. This technology poses a double threat. In the short term, oil spills threaten the fragile Arctic ecosystem and the Native peoples who depend on them for their livelihoods. In the long term, continued use of fossil fuels causes global warming, which is the single most serious threat to life on the planet.

Alaska Natives and Greenpeace ask Global Response members to help persuade BP Amoco to abandon its Northstar Project in the Arctic Ocean, and to invest in developing renewable energy alternatives - solar, wind, and waves.

BP Amoco’s Northstar Project is building an offshore platform on an artificial island in the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska. It plans to transport the oil to shore through a subsea pipeline - a risky experiment never yet attempted in Arctic conditions. If allowed to proceed, Northstar would open the way for building a string of oil wells across the Beaufort Sea.

Greenpeace gives these reasons to stop offshore oil development in the Arctic Ocean:

1. Global Warming. The Western Arctic, site of the Northstar Project, is already warming at least three times faster than the planet as a whole. The reduction of sea ice now occurring is a major threat to the Arctic food chain and to many unique Arctic species, including polar bears and walrus. If the world continues to burn even a fraction of the known reserves of coal, oil and natural gas, catastrophic climate change will result. To achieve the goals of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, we must phase out the use of fossil fuels and develop renewable energy alternatives. To preserve a life-supporting climate, the world can’t afford to use all the oil reserves we already have. Further oil exploration must stop.
   
   
2. Dangerous Technology. Northstar will use untested and risky technology to transport oil ashore through a pipeline buried beneath the seabed. Sea ice in the region continually gouges and scours the sea floor, raising concerns about the safety of the pipeline. The area is either frozen solid or in "broken ice" condition for about ten months each year.
   
   
3. Oil spill Danger. The Final Environmental Impact Statement said there is up to a 1-in-4 chance of a major spill over the life of the Northstar Project (The Trans-Alaska Pipeline has reported 624 spills since it opened in 1977). Any leak that occurs during the long, dark winter would likely go undetected until spring. Cleaning up an oil spill is next to impossible in the region’s "broken ice" conditions during spring and fall. A major spill could prove disastrous for the biologically-rich arctic ecosystem, especially the endangered bowhead whale, polar bears, ringed seals, sea ducks, and the Inupiat Eskimo communities.
   
   

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