The Trump administration opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil companies—but none may bite
The Brooks Range sets the backdrop for vital caribou feeding grounds in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. (USFWS/)Scott L. Montgomery is a lecturer at the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. This story originally featured on The Conversation.The Trump administration has announced that it is opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas development—the latest twist in a decades-long battle over the fate of this remote area. Its timing is truly terrible.Low oil prices, a pandemic-driven recession, and looming elections add up to highly unfavorable conditions for launching expensive drilling operations. In the longer term, the climate crisis and an ongoing shift to a lower-carbon economy raise big questions about future oil demand.I’ve researched the US energy industry for more than 20 years. As I see it, conservative Republicans have backed oil and gas production in ANWR since the 1980s...