Tommy Caldwell Instagram – Hundreds of miles from the nearest road. 40 below zero. Pulling sleds through the night, our path lit by aurora borealis. Surrounded by a herd of several thousand caribou. In the middle of the night, we came across snow marked with wolf prints and what they’d left of a caribou.
For the next week, our crew climbed a remote peak called Mt. Xanadu in the Brooks Range. The climbing was great, but what stuck with me was the remoteness and the wildlife. When you witness places this out there, it changes you.
For me this was a new kind of spark. A realization that places this far off the map are finite, and critical to our understanding of the impact we have on the earth. Since then, I have decided that I will do what I can to preserve wilderness.
I have been back to Northern Alaska a couple more times, I’ve met with law makers and spoken in front of congress, and I have continued to tell stories. All the while there has been a constant fight going on between the protectors and the extractors.
Last week, we suffered a serious blow. Congress voted to advance a bill that would undo many of the protections we have in place for Northern Alaska and open it up to oil and gas development and mining. This would bring development to one of our last remaining wild places in North America, pollute the area and affect biodiversity. Much of the climate gains we have made through policies like the Inflation Act would be undone.
Defending this land alongside its original stewards has kept development out of these parts of Alaska for decades. Our only chance of keeping that going is to rally once again.
Help protect nearly 20 million acres of connected park lands and waters across the Brooks Range from the irreversible impacts of open-pit mining. Hit the link in my bio to write a letter to the Biden Administration before December 22. đŸ“¸ @coreyrichproductions @austin_siadak | Posted on 19/Dec/2023 21:28:19
