Oil, gas drilling in pristine Alaska refuge takes step ahead
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is moving forward on oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, fulfilling a longtime Republican priority that most Democrats fiercely oppose.
A notice being published Friday in the Federal Register starts a 60-day review to sell oil and gas leases in the remote refuge, one of the most pristine areas in the United States and home to polar bears, caribou, migratory birds and other species.
President Donald Trump has said he “really didn’t care” about opening a portion of the refuge to oil drilling but insisted it be included in recent tax legislation at the urging of others.
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The plan being published Friday starts a 60-day environmental review that includes public meetings in Anchorage, Fairbanks and other sites, including three in northern Alaska.
Assistant Interior Secretary Joe Balash called the drilling plan “an important facet for meeting our nation’s energy demands and achieving energy dominance” and said he looks forward to visiting Alaska communities most affected by the plan.
The state’s all-Republican congressional delegation welcomed the move as a step “to responsible energy development.”
Democrats and environmental groups denounced the plan and said it was “shameful” that it would be published on Earth Day — and on the eighth anniversary of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the nation’s worst environmental disaster.
More: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/oil-gas-drilling-in-pristine-alaska-refuge-takes-step-ahead/2018/04/19/7b4883d4-4410-11e8-b2dc-b0a403e4720a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.747d13fbc28c
In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an airplane flies over caribou from the Porcupine Caribou Herd on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. The Trump administration is moving toward oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A notice being published Friday, April 20, 2018, in the Federal Register starts a 60-day review to sell oil and gas leases in the remote refuge. Oil and gas drilling in the pristine area in northeastern Alaska is a longtime Republican priority that most Democrats fiercely oppose. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service via AP) (Associated Press)
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Once it's gone, there's no going back. President Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 into law, setting aside over 104 million acres of land to remain undeveloped, President Clinton vetoed drilling in ANWR in 1995 and President Obama designated 12.3 million acres of the ANWR as wilderness. And now we have Trump, who says he "doesn't care," but "everybody wanted it." He absolutely ruins everything he touches. 
Forget moving forward; there's a threat to everything we hold important, year after year. Each time, we have to fight just to keep the status quo. We have to win every single time; they only have to win one of those times. As the years go on, it's inevitable that it will all be slowly ground away.
Thank you for your many varied posts.
This one is especially troubling, but we need to be apprised of all goings-on regardless.
Luv ya!
There is so much that's troubling, day after day, but you're right - we need to remain aware of everything. 
