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Leonardo DiCaprio draws fans’ attention to climate crisis after Trump administration clears way for drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Ahead of the elections in US, President Donald Trump has signed offshore drilling executive order which alarmed actor-environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio and experts regarding unfavourable climate change and oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Clearing the way for drilling in the remote Alaskan area, Trump administrations’ oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has left many shook and concerned about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Hollywood star and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio drew fans’ attention to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s announcement on Monday regarding the same.
Taking to his social media handles, DiCaprio shared a CNN report briefing about the availability of the entire 1.5 million acre Coastal Plain area after the future leases of the federally-owned land. Though the plans are certain to be met with legal challenges, since drilling in the Alaskan Arctic has long been controversial, Bernhardt asserted that the announcement “marks a new chapter in American energy independence” and hoped it could “create thousands of new jobs.”
However, environmental activists have predicted exacerbated climate crisis and damaging of the environment as the only result of drilling the Arctic. Yet, ahead of the elections in US this year, President Donald Trump has already signed offshore drilling executive order.
Current president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Gina McCarthy, who was also an Environmental Protection Agency administrator under former President Barack Obama, not only considered the decision a threat to US wildlife but also called it an “egregious intrusion into the sacred lands of the Gwich’in and other Indigenous People”. DiCaprio shared an image of the melting Arctic and captioned it with an excerpt from the report.
On a call with reporters, Bernhardt shared, “I do believe that there could be a lease sale by the end of the year. It requires an oil and gas development program that delivers energy to the nation and revenue to the Treasury. The law makes oil and gas development one of the purposes of the refuge, clearly directing me, acting through the Bureau of Land Management, to carry out a competitive exploration and development program for the potentially energy rich coastal plain.”
