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Trump administration announces plans to drill in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
This Alaskan lease law was passed in 2017 when Republicans had majority control of both houses of Congress.
The world is awash in oil. There is no need to drill for more. This is yet another example of the GOP rewarding corporate campaign donors.
Related: Trump in final push to open up Alaska's Arctic refuge to oil and gas drilling
8/17/20
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt on Monday announced plans for an oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, clearing the way for drilling in the remote Alaskan area. Bernhardt said future leases of the federally-owned land will make the entire 1.5 million acre Coastal Plain area available. Drilling in these controversial areas of the Alaskan arctic has long been controversial and the plans are certain to be met with legal challenges.
Environmental activists have sounded the alarm that drilling the Arctic could harm the environment and exacerbate the climate crisis. Climate change has been a key issue in the upcoming 2020 election, and Joe Biden, who is set to accept the Democratic presidential nomination this week, has called for a ban on new oil and gas permits on public lands. A 2017 law required the department to hold two lease sales in the refuge by 2024. A date for those sales has not yet been set, Bernhardt said on a call with reporters Monday, adding "I do believe that there could be a lease sale by the end of the year."
This Alaskan lease law was passed in 2017 when Republicans had majority control of both houses of Congress.
The world is awash in oil. There is no need to drill for more. This is yet another example of the GOP rewarding corporate campaign donors.
Related: Trump in final push to open up Alaska's Arctic refuge to oil and gas drilling