WWF Senior VP Available to Discuss Organization’s Opposition to New Oil Drilling, Respond to Ad in Today’s New York Times

--(BUSINESS WIRE)--World Wildlife Fund (WWF):

WHAT:		Media Availability
WHO:		Tom Dillon, senior vice president for field programs, WWF
WHEN:		TODAY, Monday, July 28, 2008 and balance of the week
CONTACT:		202-778-9730

In a new ad running in today’s New York Times, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) urges Congress to uphold the decades-old bipartisan ban on new oil drilling off U.S. coasts and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Tom Dillon, WWF senior vice president for field programs, is available to speak with reporters regarding the ad and WWF’s opposition to opening protected areas to oil exploration and extraction.

The ad in today’s Times argues that calls for new drilling in response to high gas prices are ill-conceived, given that energy experts, including the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, have said that lifting the Congressional drilling ban would have an “insignificant” impact on energy prices now and in the future. The ad points out that while drilling permits on federal lands have doubled in the last five years, the price of gas has nearly tripled – an indication that more drilling permits don’t lead to lower prices. Further, the ad notes that less than three percent of known oil reserves are located in the U.S., making continued reliance on oil unsustainable for a nation that consumes 25 percent of global oil supplies each year.

While more drilling would have virtually no impact on gas prices, the ad says, it could have a profoundly negative impact on America’s wilderness and waters and could jeopardize the nation’s billion dollar fisheries industry. WWF, which has a team of scientists and experts based in Alaska, notes in the ad that a major oil spill in Alaskan waters – where approximately half of all U.S. seafood is caught – could have a devastating impact on both the economy and the environment. It further states that oil companies have no proven method for cleaning up major oil spills in Arctic waters, further exacerbating the risk to protected areas.

A policy response to the rising cost of gas that would not lower prices but would sacrifice America’s wilderness and waters is ill-conceived and irresponsible, WWF says. It instead urges Congress to develop energy and transportation policies rooted in energy efficiency, energy conservation, and alternatives to petroleum.

The New York Times ad is part of a broad, sustained effort by WWF to protect the Arctic and other sensitive areas from oil and gas development. Last week, WWF sent an action-alert to 74,000 members asking them to urge Congress to uphold the current drilling ban, complementing the organization’s own targeted lobbying on the issue. WWF is also party to a lawsuit seeking to block lease sale 193, which would allow drilling in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, and is working to strengthen the recent listing of the polar bear as a threatened species in an effort to protect the bear’s vital habitat from oil and gas exploration.

About World Wildlife Fund:

For more than 45 years, WWF has been protecting the future of nature. The largest multinational conservation organization in the world, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by 1.2 million members in the United States and close to 5 million globally. WWF's unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level, from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature. Go to worldwildlife.org to learn more.