Big Polluter megaprojects are threatening endangered orcas

14 HOURS LEFT TO MAKE DOUBLE THE IMPACT We need you in this fight for endangered orcas and our planet. Will you join us? [MATCH MY GIFT]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Friend, Ripple is dead. Don't let his family suffer the same premature fate. Make your $27 tax-deductible gift today and it will be matched dollar for dollar! If you've saved payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $50 immediately]( [Donate $100 immediately]( [Donate another amount]( A young orca weakly breaches the surface of the ocean one final time before he stops moving, slowly sinking down, his emaciated body finally reaching the ocean floor – dead. His family mourns, unable to help him as they are driven further into starvation alongside their grief. This is the fate that Southern Resident orcas like Cappuccino, Marina, and young Ripple faced. Now, their family members are languishing, starving, and growing weaker by the day. Meanwhile, increased shipping and oil tanker traffic are driving away the salmon orcas depend on for food and putting local communities at risk. Help protect the last remaining Southern Resident orcas, people, and our planet. Make your $27 tax-deductible donation and make TWICE the impact before this rare match opportunity expires at midnight! If you've saved payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $50 immediately]( [Donate $100 immediately]( [Donate another amount]( Now, only 75 of these whales remain in the wild. They are fighting to survive, but they are so fragile that just one oil spill could drive them to extinction. [We can't let the last of these orcas be wiped out by corporate greed. Right now, a generous group of donors is matching every gift up to $850,000 – but only until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. So please, donate $27 or more to Friends of the Earth while your tax-deductible donation will be DOUBLED to protect these orcas, our oceans and all who depend on them, and our planet!]( Ripple was the youngest whale in his pod for a decade, bringing hope for his species. But then, a young orca’s emaciated body was found entangled in a net off the Oregon coast, tragically presumed to be Ripple. Now, Ripple’s family is struggling, and this tragic loss is making matters worse. That is because orcas have tight-knit family groups that depend on each other to survive. They mourn every loss to their pod. And with every loss, their chances of survival plummet. That’s why it’s so urgent that we act now to protect every last one of these precious whales. Southern Resident orcas are the only endangered species of killer whales in the United States. Now, they number at just 75. And soon, these remaining orcas could face the same devastating fate as Ripple. Their survival is at risk because massive corporations are looking to build the Roberts Bank T2 container shipping terminal and expand the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline. These projects would be direct threats to the pods’ survival and could put surrounding communities at serious risk. The Roberts Bank T2 project is a massive, proposed container shipping facility that developers want to build at the mouth of British Columbia’s Fraser River. If built, it will disrupt the migration patterns of Chinook salmon, the main food source for endangered orcas. And without a reliable source of food, the odds are against orcas and their vulnerable calves. The Trans Mountain Pipeline would pile on this already dire situation. It would pump hundreds of thousands of additional barrels of TOXIC tar sands oil each day. What’s more, it would increase oil tanker shipping in Southern Resident orca critical habitat from one oil tanker a week to more than one per day! This would be a ticking time-bomb for an oil spill. And we know that with projects like these, oil spills aren’t a matter of “if” -- they’re a matter of “when.” Local communities that used to watch orcas thrive could instead be seeing oil-covered sea life washing up on their shores. Those who make their living fishing could see their livelihoods devastated by the polluted waters. Even without an oil spill, the noise and air pollution generated by the massive ships from these projects will significantly impact both the lives of countless people living nearby and endangered orcas as well! Orcas rely on sonar for hunting – increased noise would disrupt their sonar, confusing them and making them more vulnerable. Their fruitless hunts for the few fish that remain are leaving them hungry and confused. Between the chronic lack of salmon and the disruption of their hunting methods, orcas could starve to death and be driven to extinction. NOW is the time to do something about it. Megaprojects threaten these last remaining endangered orcas and nearby communities. Make your $27 gift now while it will still be MATCHED and help us in the fight to protect marine life, people, and the planet. If you've saved payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $50 immediately]( [Donate $100 immediately]( [Donate another amount]( It is critical that we protect orcas – they are important to a thriving ocean habitat and our own health. They release vital nutrients for phytoplankton -- tiny sea organisms that provide HALF of the oxygen we breathe while absorbing hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon each year! We depend on this flow of nutrients for healthy ecosystems and a functioning planet, which is why we are fighting tooth and nail to protect orcas, their ocean habitats and our planet. But the shipping and oil industries are interested in their own profit, even if it means orca families are left reeling in grief for their deceased loved ones. All the while, local communities will be forced to breathe polluted air and suffer the consequences of marine life die-offs. Friends of the Earth is working with the Biden administration to increase protections for Southern Resident orcas, and we’re working to stop these deadly projects before they cause irreparable damage. But we need your help to step up our fight. Your tax-deductible membership donation of $27 or more today will be DOUBLED up to $850,000 to help protect these orcas and other vulnerable species, and protect people and our planet from greedy interests. Please rush your $27 contribution today before this rare match opportunity expires at midnight on December 31 and we lose orcas forever! Stand up to Big Oil and the shipping industry to protect endangered orcas, people, and our planet. Rush your $27 tax-deductible donation to Friends of the Earth today and make 2X the impact! If you've saved payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately: [Donate $27 immediately]( [Donate $50 immediately]( [Donate $100 immediately]( [Donate another amount]( Standing with you, Marcie Keever Oceans & vessels program director, Friends of the Earth Contact Us: Friends of the Earth U.S. Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA 1-877-843-8687 [Contact us]( Email Preferences: [Click here to unsubscribe]( Learn more: www.foe.org/news www.foe.org/about-us www.foeaction.org Connect: [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Flickr]( © 2023, Friends of the Earth. All Rights Reserved. [supporter]