Polar bears
Center for     Biological     Diversity   

Obama Bans Drilling on 119 Million Acres in Arctic, Atlantic

President Obama made history this week by banning offshore oil and gas drilling across 115 million acres of the Arctic and nearly 4 million acres in the Atlantic along the Eastern Seaboard. The Center for Biological Diversity and our members were part of a large coalition of environmental, indigenous and coastal groups that called on Obama earlier this year to protect U.S. waters from the oil industry.

This week's decision is a preemptive strike against the incoming Trump administration, which has vowed to expand offshore oil and gas drilling -- a step that would worsen the climate crisis and put people and wildlife at risk, including right whales and polar bears in the Arctic.

"The whole world is watching Trump fill his cabinet with climate deniers," said the Center's Oceans Director Miyoko Sakashita. "Putting offshore oil and gas off limits is the best way President Obama can protect our climate future."

Read more in The Christian Science Monitor.

#Earth2Trump

#Earth2Trump: Join Us on Our Resistance Tour in January

The Center's cross-country #Earth2Trump Roadshow starts in early January to rally and empower defenders of civil rights and the environment in resisting Trump's agenda. Stopping in 16 cities on its way to Washington, D.C., our tour will bring together thousands of people to protest at the presidential inauguration.

The shows on the tour will feature national and local speakers, fantastic and popular musicians, and the opportunity to join a crucial, growing movement of resistance to all forms of oppression and attacks on our environment.

At each show you can take a variety of meaningful actions: sign our national "Pledge of Resistance" to Trump's dangerous agenda, write a personalized #Earth2Trump message that will be carried to D.C. in a massive globe and delivered to Trump himself, connect with people in your community, and learn how to join the massive protest in D.C. on Inauguration Day.

We need you there. Check out our map of stops and RSVP for one of the shows. 

Finally, Win for Sea Turtles Big and Small

Loggerhead hatchlings

After four years of study -- since the Center and allies won a settlement in 2012 -- the National Marine Fisheries Service has proposed a new rule to save sea turtles from dying in skimmer trawls. Thousands of turtles annually get entangled and die in these nets.

The new proposal requires smaller spacing in the "turtle exclusion devices" used by shrimp trawls, meaning small turtles are now safer too. The proposal is long overdue but we're glad to know it will prevent needless deaths of sea turtles.

Read more in our press release.

Jaguar

Jaguar Proposal Ignores Recovery in the U.S.

Just weeks after the exciting news broke of a new jaguar in the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a draft recovery plan putting the onus of northern jaguars' recovery entirely on Mexico -- letting jaguars come off the "endangered" list without occupying any of their vast historic U.S. range.

Just two jaguars have been photographed in Arizona since the state killed the last one, "Macho B," in 2009: "El Jefe" in the Santa Rita Mountains and a younger male this month.

"Jaguars are making themselves known in the U.S. Southwest," said the Center's Michael Robinson. "So it's very disappointing to see the Service limit their recovery to Mexico."

The draft plan was written following a lawsuit the Center and allies won in 2009.

Get more from KVOA News.

CNN's Stunning Piece on the Wildlife Extinction Crisis

Orangutan

If you missed last week's CNN piece on the extinction crisis, Vanishing, take a moment today to experience it. Through a series of slides, video clips and graphics, the piece offers an important overview of some of the key factors driving wildlife extinction, including climate change, habitat loss, wildlife crimes, disease and pollution.

The Center has been focusing on these issues for years -- and we're hoping the CNN piece helps bring renewed urgency and focus to the extinction crisis.

Black-capped vireo

Endangered Species Act Success: Black-capped Vireo

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced that the black-capped vireo -- a beautiful songbird living in Texas, Oklahoma and Mexico -- has recovered and is being proposed for removal from the endangered species list. Since the vireo was protected in 1987, its population has been steadily increasing. The bird has been threatened by brown-headed cowbird nest parasitism and habitat loss. But now, according to a recent Center report, four closely monitored vireo populations have increased by more than 7,000 percent.

"We're thrilled that the Endangered Species Act has secured a future for the black-capped vireo," said the Center's Noah Greenwald. "We can save more species if we fully fund and implement the Act."

Read more in our press release.

Tell Senators to Reject Exxon CEO as Secretary of State

Rex Tillerson

Trump's nomination of Rex Tillerson, ExxonMobil CEO, for secretary of state is one of the most troubling cabinet nominations in U.S. history. Over the past 10 years, Exxon has used its enormous power to ruthlessly push for more oil and gas extraction -- regardless of the environmental and human cost. Tillerson hid Exxon's own research documenting the grave danger of global warming while funding right-wing think tanks to deny its existence.

Check out our Trump Action Toolkit for tips on how to call your senators and urge them to reject Tillerson.

Flotsam logo

#EcoList of Things We Love

5 Animals That Are Definitely Smarter Than Us

#WildlifeGoals

What Are Your #WildlifeGoals for 2017?

With a little more than a week left in the year, there are two things many of us are feeling right now: We're ready to see the end of 2016 and inspired to take action for a better 2017.

We're not going to sugarcoat it -- we've got a tough fight ahead. It's been a rough year for wildlife, public lands, reproductive rights and social justice, and next year promises to bring even more challenges. That's why it's so important that we remember the wildlife and wild places we love and the ways we can help protect them in our day-to-day lives.

Share the Center's new #WildlifeGoals graphics filled with simple but powerful actions you and your friends can take to help wildlife over the next year.

Dwarf minke whale

Wild & Weird: The 'Star Wars' Call of the Dwarf Minke Whale

Although they weigh in at several tons, dwarf minke whales are among the smallest baleen whales to roam the oceans. They also have one of the coolest vocalizations, sometimes called the "Star Wars" vocalization. Dwarf minkes produce a bizarre, almost mechanical da-da-da-daaaaaaang reminiscent of a stormtrooper blaster or a lightsaber being unleashed.

Give a listen.

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Photo credits: Polar bears by Nature's Pics Online; Trump image by Michael Vadon/Flickr; loggerhead hatchlings by Blair Witherington, Fish and Wildlife Research Institute; jaguar by Peter Hopper/Flickr; orangutan by Timothy Merill/Flickr; black-capped vireo by Dennis Cooke/Flickr; Rex Tillerson by CSIS/Flickr; Flotsam logo courtesy Center for Biological Diversity; gray wolf; dwarf minke whale by Oregon State University/Flickr.

Center for Biological Diversity
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Tucson, AZ 85702