Long-Term Damage, Extinctions Likely With Arctic Refuge Drilling

The damage to wildlife habitat from oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge could be permanent and, when coupled with the impacts of climate change, lead to bird extinctions, the Bureau of Land Management says in its plan to open the refuge to the oil industry.

The final plan, expected to be finalized sometime in the early fall, was released Sept. 12 and applies to about 1.5 million acres of the Arctic coastal plain in northeast Alaska. Congress mandated in 2017 that the Arctic refuge be leased for oil.

Impacts of oil and gas development ...