10.05.20

Chair Grijalva, Committee Democrats Release “The Melting Arctic” Report Ahead of Today’s Forum on Impacts to People and Wildlife

Washington D.C. – Today Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva and Committee Democrats released a new report entitled The Melting Arctic: Climate Change Impacts on People and Wildlife to accompany a livestreamed Democratic forum to investigate the same topic that will commence today at 2:00 pm Eastern time. 

The full report, available online at https://bit.ly/34oGxQJ, provides an in-depth look at the extreme negative impacts the climate crisis has had on this fragile landscape and how the Trump administration’s efforts to open the region to oil and gas drilling would further harm the area: 

Nowhere on Earth is the climate crisis more keenly felt than in the Arctic, an area that is warming at twice the global average – yet Alaska continues to be exploited for its oil and gas resources. The Trump administration continues to push for new oil and gas leasing on Alaska’s North Slope, which is home to Alaska Native communities and some of the most fragile ecosystems on Earth. In the face of the climate crisis, this backward approach makes zero sense. Higher temperatures in the Arctic are shrinking sea ice, thawing the permafrost, and wreaking havoc on wildlife and fisheries and the Alaska Natives who depend upon these natural resources.

Press and members of the public are encouraged to watch the Democratic forum at 2:00 pm Eastern time, where members of Congress will hear from witnesses about the dire state of the Arctic region and explore solutions.