Trump Admin Okays Plan To Drill In Alaskan Refuge

Reuters reports:

The Trump administration on Monday finalized a plan to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, putting it on track to issue decades-long leases in the pristine wilderness area before a potential change in U.S. leadership.

The 19 million acre (7.7 million hectares) refuge is home to wildlife populations including Porcupine caribou and polar bears and has been off-limits to drilling for decades.

But a Republican-passed tax bill in 2017 opened the area to oil and gas leasing, a key pillar of U.S. President Donald Trump’s energy agenda to expand fossil fuel production on public lands.

JUST IN: Trump administration authorizes plan to sell drilling rights and spur oil development in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, setting up a possible auction by the end of 2020. https://t.co/Mjfio1afA1

— Bloomberg Law: Environment (@environment) August 17, 2020

The Trump administration announces plans for a new oil and gas program that clears the way for drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
https://t.co/lHgaieWvuo

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) August 17, 2020

Breaking: The Trump administration is set to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling for the first time https://t.co/ZHqueW3SeV

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 17, 2020

Trump’s administration will allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a refuge that has been off-limits to drilling for decades

Environmentalists and Democrats have long sought to block the pristine area, home to wildlife https://t.co/dpBjLctaKM?‍❄️ pic.twitter.com/klhOZ8xKdn

— Reuters (@Reuters) August 17, 2020