A decades-long effort by the fossil fuel industry and congressional Republicans to bring drilling to Alaska’s contested wildlife refuge culminates in a lease sale Jan. 6.
But Big Oil may sit this one out.
Why? Multinational oil companies’ interest in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has waned. The idea has gone out of fashion.
“One thing that has really interested a lot of us in Alaska who follow these things is how ambivalent the major oil companies have been in ANWR,” Tim Bradner, co-publisher of the Alaska Economic Report, said. “That could be because they sense the toxic politics.”
Decades of environmental opposition suggests a risk of costly lawsuits against oil companies considering ANWR, as well as corporate reputational risk, Bradner said.
Plus, drilling in remote Alaska is neither convenient nor cheap. Read more…..
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