Student activists say Arctic Drilling is Scary this Halloween

[BETHLEHEM, PA] – On Friday, environmental activists dressed up for Halloween with Arctic themed costumes, calling on Members of Congress to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from drilling. This fall, more than one thousand Pennsylvanians have signed petitions, written letters to local newspapers, and called their Members of Congress after learning about the frightening impacts of drilling and seismic testing in the Arctic. Today, more Pennsylvanians joined this effort by signing petitions, posting on social media, and calling their elected officials to act.

Last week, the Trump Administration announced that they would open the entire Arctic coastal plain for drilling. Members of Congress from Pennsylvania are also considering a Congressional Review Act, which would overturn the Biden administration’s Record of Decision providing protections for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Senator John Fetterman and Representative Ryan Mackenzie are key decision makers on this issue.

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge contains almost 20 million acres of untouched wilderness – roughly the size of South Carolina. The Refuge is home to vast wildlife populations, including polar bears, the largest caribou herds in the world, and millions migratory birds. It is also the ancestral home and sacred to Indigenous Peoples, such as the Gwich’in tribe. These people have depended on the land for generations.

“These are some of our last remaining untouched public lands. It belongs to all of us, and we should have a say in how it is managed,” said Matt Docalovich, a Pennsylvania organizer for Alaska Wilderness League working on the Arctic Defense Campaign. “In the past few weeks, threats to this area from the federal government to begin oil and gas drilling have accelerated at an alarming pace. Without action to save it, we could see the beginning of industrialization – the first steps toward building an entire city on this untouched land – by the end of the year.”

“The Arctic is not just a place on a map. It’s a symbol of what we stand to lose if we don’t act. It’s a call to all of us to unite and protect what cannot protect itself,” said Sophia Pappalardo, a Lehigh University student activist working as a media coordinator on the Arctic Defense Campaign. “But this sanctuary is under threat. Oil and gas drilling would scar this land forever. Industrial machinery could cave in polar bear dens, drive caribou away from their calving grounds, and destroy sacred Indigenous lands. Every moment we wait, the Arctic becomes more vulnerable to irreversible harm.”

In response to recent actions to open up the Arctic for drilling, volunteers engaged Lehigh Valley community members this week asking them to call their representatives and post on social media, answering the question, “Why is Arctic drilling scary?” in advance of Halloween on Friday. Activists wore Arctic costumes – including a polar bear – and carried handmade signs reading Congress: Protect the Arctic and Arctic Drilling is Scary.

“I have seen so much care and compassion among the wider Bethlehem community for this cause. By distance, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge may be far away from Pennsylvania, but the lands are connected through the birds that fly through both areas, and through the global impacts that a desecrated arctic would bring,” said Nora Kirby, a Lehigh University student activist working as a grassroots coordinator. “The Arctic is a beloved part of our country, and I have seen the widespread respect and appreciation that Pennsylvanians have for these lands.”

“We have the power to make a difference. Our voices matter here in Pennsylvania,” added Pappalardo, “Every signature, every call, and every conversation adds to a growing demand for action. This is how change happens… not from the top down, but from the ground up, with communities like ours leading the way. The Arctic cannot speak for itself, but we can, and we must.”

The Arctic Defense Campaign was created in 2023, when the Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign (ARDC) merged with a coalition of groups working to protect the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve) to defend America’s Arctic from destructive oil and gas development.

 

Information provided to TVL by:
Matt Docalovich