The Obama administration on Monday granted Royal Dutch Shell the final permit to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic for the first time since 2012, a move environmentalists vowed to fight. The Interior Department gave Shell the final permit to drill into the oil zone in the Chukchi Sea off northern Alaska after the Fennica, an icebreaker the company leases that carries emergency well-plugging equipment, was repaired after suffering a gash in its hull. The permit was expected as the department had previously approved Shell’s exploration program before the Fennica hit uncharted shoals in southern Alaska. Shell obtained the leases in the Chukchi during the administration of former President George W. Bush. Shell has spent about $7 billion on exploration in the Arctic. It has not explored in the region since 2012, when […]