ENERGY/INTERIOR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration will work to minimize environmental impacts on Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if Congress opens it to drilling, a top interior department official said ahead of his testimony today on Capitol Hill.
Greg Sheehan, acting director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that Arctic drilling fits in with recent directives by both President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to open up more federal lands to energy development.
Efforts to open one of America’s most desolate and wild preserves to oil and gas development—a Holy Grail of the energy lobby—have been blocked by environmental groups and their Democratic allies for years.
In the interview, the first by an administration official on the Arctic refuge, Mr. Sheehan said the agency would take steps such as restricting the use of drilling pads and imposing seasonal work shutdowns to limit the environmental impact.”
-Jim Carlton, “Interior Official Says Environmental Risks of Arctic Drilling Would Be Minimized,” The Wall Street Journal online, Nov. 2, 2017 08:03am