Trump administration takes first steps toward drilling in Alaska’s Arctic refuge
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/04/trump-administration-takes-first-steps-toward-drilling-alaska-s-arctic-refuge"By putting the fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the hands of former oil industry lobbyist David Bernhardt, Secretary Zinke has made clear that this rushed environmental review process will be nothing more than a kangaroo court," Matt Lee-Ashley, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., said in a statement.
Environmental groups told the Trump administration to brace for a legal battle.
"The Trump administration's reckless dash to expedite drilling and destroy the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will only hasten a trip to the courthouse," Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO Defenders of Wildlife in Washington, D.C., said in a statement. "We will not stand by and watch them desecrate this fragile landscape."
Lawmakers responded largely along party lines.
"We welcome this scoping announcement and the Department’s continued work to implement our legislation opening the Coastal Plain to responsible energy development," Alaska's congressional delegation, all Republicans, said in a joint statement. "We appreciate the Department following the law, planning multiple public meetings with Alaskans, and moving forward on this important program to help ensure the energy and economic security of our nation."
House Natural Resources ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and eight Democratic colleagues today sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke objecting to the "needless haste" toward leasing in ANWR.
"This administration's naked greed and corporate favoritism have become an ongoing self-parody," Grijalva said in a statement. "This is the kind of rushed policy that gets made during a backroom deal, not a careful assessment of public opinion and scientific data. President Trump and Secretary Zinke count drilling in the Arctic Refuge as a win because it upsets Americans they don't like, not because it will have any public benefit."