Audubon President David Yarnold today describes the extensive dangers of drilling in the arctic in a Politico opinion piece:

The oil companies are complaining about the financial burdens of taking on the risk of drilling in this hostile, unpredictable environment with icebergs the size of major towns. But the greatest risks can’t be measured in billions of dollars; they are too priceless. If there is a spot on Earth as critical to the future of our wild birds as the Gulf of Mexico, it is probably the Arctic. Hundreds of avian species arrive every spring from six continents and all four North American flyways. They mate and raise their young in one of the world’s most prolific avian nurseries. Many of America’s remaining polar bears make their winter dens along the coasts while the last herds of thousands of caribou roam the tundra. This is nature at its purist.