House Dems pressure White House to block Arctic offshore drilling

A group of House Democrats are readying new pressure on the Obama administration to block Shell Oil’s plans to conduct exploratory drilling this summer in Arctic waters off Alaska’s coast.

Reps. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) are circulating a letter that calls on President Obama to delay Shell’s plans until the causes of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are known, and the administration has put in place “improved and rigorous prevention technology requirements.”

An aide to Inslee said that nearly 80 House members had signed on as of Thursday afternoon. The letter is slated to be sent later on Thursday, the aide said.

The letter argues that a spill in the Artic waters the size of the current Gulf spill would kill endangered whales, fish, birds and cause other harms.

“Such an event could also devastate Alaska Native communities who live in the Arctic and whose cultural survival relies heavily on fish and wildlife from the Arctic Ocean,” the letter states.

The lawmakers also argue that drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas off Alaska’s coast is made riskier by the tough conditions. “Hazards present in the Arctic can include frigid temperatures, presence of sea ice, gale-force winds, intense storms, and heavy fog,” the letter states.

But Shell has rejected comparisons to the Gulf accident and sought to reassure regulators that it will proceed safely.

In a letter to the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service this week, the company touted blowout prevention safeguards and said it has “unprecedented” response plans in the event of any spills.

The company also notes that it will be operating in water depths much shallower than the damaged BP well that is 5,000 feet below the ocean surface in the Gulf.