Defenders Launches Internet Animation Campaign on Arctic

"The animation – starring a polar bear, her cub and an oil driller – illustrates the danger posed by oil exploration to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, one of the crown jewels of America’s natural treasures," Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen said.

Narrated by actor Ed Asner, the video is displayed on the Defenders’ new Web site - www.SaveArcticRefuge.org - along with a petition urging President Bush and Congress not to allow oil drilling in the refuge. The animation was developed by RealImpact™, which is a division of RealNetworks® that provides high quality technical and creative services in Strategic Consulting, Streaming Media, and Web Site Design to progressive organizations. RealImpact can be found on the World Wide Web at www.realimpact.net.

"RealImpact™ is dedicated to helping progressive organizations use the Internet as an advocacy tool. We have been very pleased to partner with Defenders on this critical campaign to keep the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge safe from drilling," said RealImpact™ General Manager Eileen Quigley.

With a click of a mouse, computer users can watch the animation, which presents the story of a polar bear sleeping peacefully by her cub when they are awakened by an oil man. The oil man eventually drives the animals from their home by exploring for oil and then drilling a well. At the end, the silhouette of a monstrous oil rig is pounding away, and an oily set of polar bear tracks leads away from the frozen landscape.

The video concludes by urging viewers to sign the Defenders’ petition against oil drilling in the refuge. "Oil and wildlife don’t mix," Asner says on the video.

Schlickeisen said Defenders of Wildlife hopes viewers will enjoy the video and email the Web link for it to their friends to spread the word about the threat to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

"We hope that, through this animation, we can send a very serious message to President Bush and Congress," Schlickeisen said. "Oil drilling would spoil the refuge, and we would lose our last sanctuary for Arctic wildlife–all for a six-month supply of oil that wouldn’t be available for 10 years or more."

"Big Oil is lobbying Congress to drill in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is America’s greatest wildlife sanctuary. Called America’s Serengeti, it’s home to polar bears, muskoxen, wolves, millions of migratory birds, caribou and hundreds of other species. The industrial disturbance from oil drilling would be immense and spills are inevitable," Schlickeisen said. "Our petition is a way for citizens to make their voices heard on this important issue."

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Defenders of Wildlife is known for its high-tech innovations. The organization’s Defenders Electronic Network (DEN) is an online environmental advocacy tool that includes a free e-mail newsletter called DENlines, plus email alerts when urgent action is needed. On behalf of a coalition of leading environmental groups, Defenders sponsored the Web site "SayNoToNorton.org," which generated more than 100,000 e-mails and faxes to senators in opposition to the nomination of Gale Norton as Secretary of the Interior.

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