The federal government published its final environmental impact statement on a lease plan first unveiled in 2008. The lease was tied in up the court system amid complaints about the extent of environmental vetting. “We remain committed to taking a thoughtful and balanced approach to oil and gas leasing and exploration in this unique, sensitive and often challenging environment,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled early last year the Interior Department did not properly evaluate the scale of oil production that could result in the Chukchi Sea when it sold more than $2.6 billion in development leases in the environmentally sensitive area in 2008. The ruling stemmed from a […]