Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt should extend the period allowed for the US public to comment on plans to allow oil and gas developments in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, five senators wrote in a letter published on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th January, 2019) Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt should extend the period allowed for the US public to comment on plans to allow oil and gas developments in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, five senators wrote in a letter published on Wednesday."We are writing to request that you lengthen the public comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) from 45 days to 120 days," Senators Tom Udall, Maria Cantwell, Tom Carper, Michael Bennet, and Ed Markey wrote in their letter to Bernhardt.
The letter comes on the heels of the Trump administration's decision to rush through an environmental review period and expedite oil and gas exploration.
A law passed in 2017 opens ANWR's coastal plain for oil production, about 1.5 million acres representing about 8 percent of the wildlife refuge's total area, according to a report by the Energy Information Agency.
