Shell's Game with the Future of the Arctic

Questions are being raised about Shell's ability to manage its oil and gas drilling operations in the Arctic Ocean. The company is reneging on its emissions commitments and is already having trouble with the ships tasked to locate fossil fuels.

Right before it begins its drilling operations in August, Shell is trying to change the terms under which it was granted permission to drill. In an application to the agency, dated June 28, Shell said they cannot meet the requirements for emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia of an air permit granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in January. Shell has asked the EPA to loosen air pollution requirements for its Discoverer drill rig and to a lesser extent its Kulluk drill ship. “This is a classic bait-and-switch.”

Lawsuit Protecting the Arctic from Oil and Gas Drilling

A coalition of conservation groups filed a lawsuit on July 16th to protect the Arctic Ocean from Shell's exploratory drilling scheduled to get under way in August. The legal papers filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage challenges the oil spill cleanup plans for Shell Alaska's upcoming operations in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas. Shell claims it has already spend $4 billion on the drilling operation. The suit invokes the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, a tough law passed in the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. This act imposes strict standards on companies in the Arctic Ocean involved with oil and gas drilling and transport.