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January 26, 2015

Obama Proposes Plan to Protect Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from Drilling 
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In environmental news, President Obama has announced a plan to designate
12 million acres in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as
wilderness in an effort to ban oil and gas drilling in the area.

President Obama: "Alaska's National Wildlife Refuge is an incredible
place — pristine, undisturbed. It supports caribou and polar
bears, all manner of marine life, countless species of birds and fish,
and for centuries it supported many Alaskan Native communities. But it's
very fragile."

Congress needs to approve any wilderness designation, but the Interior
Department will start managing the area under that level of protection
until congressional action is taken. The Washington Post is reporting
the Interior Department is also planning to place part of the Arctic
Ocean off limits to drilling.

 

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