Drilling in the Arctic has been back in the headlines this week with some fresh controversy. The Trump administration has long seen the development of oil and gas assets in Alaska as economically beneficial, and has carried out an environmental assessment that determined that drilling in part of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) would have a “ negligible impact ” on the surrounding environment. Many Alaskan oil industry insiders and employees would certainly be very happy to see the return of oil development and oil jobs to the state, which has seen a massive decline in what was once one of its most key economic sectors. Bringing oil money back to Alaska would not only boost the local job market, it would also help the state put a dent in its massive debt from outstanding oil tax credits– the state owes almost $1 billion to oil companies after […]