As our communities celebrate the gift of the whale this season, I am reminded of just how vital our ocean garden is to our way of life. Our ocean has provided for us for thousands of years. Without it, we would cease to exist.
There has been a lot of talk about drilling in our Arctic Ocean. Shell Oil announced this month that they are doubling their drilling plans for the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in 2012-13. For a total of 10 wells between both seas, they will use two drill ships -- one in the Chukchi and one in the Beaufort - operating at the same time.
In addition, their exploratory drilling operations call for helicopters, ice breakers, and various other support vessels and manpower. Their drilling operations would release toxic pollutants into our air and water, including up to 94,000 tons of CO2, the biggest greenhouse gas - equal to emissions from the annual amount of energy used by 21,000 people, roughly three times the population of the North Slope Borough.
Their exploratory drilling season could last through October, an unimaginable time to clean up an oil spill in our Arctic conditions. Production could be year-round.
I traveled to the Gulf of Mexico shortly after the BP spill last April. I walked along oiled beaches where the smell of oil had completely taken over the natural smell of the ocean. I held oily tar balls in my hand - the oil stuck to my skin no matter how hard I tried to wash it off.
For a moment, I could imagine what a sandpiper must feel like when it's coated in oil. I talked to the people of the Gulf, who like us, have always depended on their ocean for their food and way of life. I heard the fear in their voices as they talked about how their shrimp, fish and birds were all contaminated. Now, one year later, oil and dead animals continue to wash up on their shores.
The long-term impacts to their ecosystem are still unknown. In Washington, Shell Oil has been leading an effort in Congress to override Clean Air Act regulations in the Arctic that are meant to protect our health and our environment.
If Shell has its way, any future drilling in Arctic waters would be able to emit greater quantities of harmful toxins into our environment. Shell's current air permit was rejected by the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board because it failed to meet environmental justice and human health standards. The challenge to the permit was brought on by the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope.
Before any more decisions about drilling in Arctic waters are made, we must demand that the strongest offshore drilling laws, regulations, and enforcements are in place to ensure our way of life is protected.
And without a doubt, Shell and other oil companies must develop the proven ability to clean up an oil spill in the Arctic's extreme, challenging conditions. Federal experts have said: "The question isn't if there is a spill in the Arctic, but when."
The Arctic Ocean may be just another windfall for a company like Shell but, to our people, these waters are priceless. We can't let Arctic drilling move forward without a guarantee that our health and our way of life will be protected.
Earl Natchiq Kingik is from Point Hope, Alaska. His opinions are his own.
This commentary is posted with permission from Alaska Newspapers Inc., which publishes six weekly community newspapers, a statewide shopper, a statewide magazine and slate of special publications that supplement its products year-round.