More As the race heats up for drilling in Arctic waters, several U.S. Senate members have requested the Interior Department to delay future oil and gas lease sales and permitting in the Arctic Ocean, including the proposed lease sale 237, until a thorough reevaluation of environmental risks is conducted. Six Senate Democrats, with Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Dick Durbin of Illinois leading the charge, published an addressed letter to Secretary Sally Jewel to suspend plans to auction new leases in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northern coast in 2016, with Shell Oil Company being used as an example. “The myriad problems faced last year by Shell Oil Company as it attempted to drill exploration wells in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas demonstrated the unpredictability, harsh conditions, and heightened potential for human error that characterize any industrial activity in the Arctic Ocean,” the letter stated. In September, the Bureau […]