oiled brown pelican  Earlier today, President Obama's staff held
a hearing on their proposed 5 year oil leasing plan. A plan that
would  open up drilling in the Arctic. I was there with Cindy
Shogan of Alaska Wilderness League, rallying people to urge the
President to stop risking the Arctic and the support of young
environmental voters.  When the BP Deepwater disaster happened,
I saw firsthand the destruction that oil drilling causes on the
environment.  Miles of oil-covered coastline destroyed the
original beauty of the Gulf coast. Billions of dollars that
people depended upon to feed their families were never earned.
Oil-covered birds were suffering. Dolphins would swim near our
Greenpeace ship under a sheen of oil. Around the Gulf, it was
reported that when the dolphins surfaced, they would
accidentally breathe in the oil, and you could hear them making
a sound like coughing. The Gulf coast, still recovering from
Hurricane Katrina, fell further into despair. The people’s
livelihoods - from fishing to tour