Alaska’s members of Congress are celebrating their success in opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. “We finally got it done,” U.S. Rep Don Young said minutes after the bill passed the House Wednesday afternoon.
North Slope
After 40 years, battle over ANWR is ending quietly
The Sierra Club’s Melinda Pierce thought if Sen. Ted Stevens couldn’t get Congress to open ANWR in 2005 when Republicans controlled Congress, gas prices were up and the Iraq war was raging, it may never happen. Opening it up now is a stunning reversal for environmentalists.
Amid sexual harassment claims, Rep. Westlake says he’ll resign
“It shows that more and more so, people who do these kinds of things are going to be held accountable for their actions,” said Olivia Garrett, a former legislative aide and the first person to come forward publicly with allegations.
High temperatures in Utqiaġvik confuse NOAA algorithm
This November in Utqiaġvik was the hottest on record, averaging 17.2°F. It was so warm that NOAA’s quality control algorithms flagged the data.
Protests fail to slow tax bill, or Arctic drilling
Republicans in Congress say they’ve reached a final agreement on their tax bill, and it appears to include a prize the Alaska delegation has sought for years: opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.
Warning from left: Deficit could eat Alaska’s Arctic Refuge money
The U.S. Senate tax bill would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil lease sales and split revenues with the state 50-50. Some Alaskans insist the state should get 90 percent, as promised in the statehood act. But if the tax bill passes, some opponents warn the state’s actual revenues from ANWR, no matter how much the oil companies bid, could be zero.