Photo credit: Aviation News Today In response to the energy crisis of the late 1970s, a Rider to an Interior Appropriations bill in 1980 by Senator Ted Stevens authorized a short-term, expeditious oil leasing program. After minimal exploration and no development in the 1980’s, oil leasing resumed in 1998 in the northeast portion of the Western Arctic. BLM has leased more than 1.4 million acres in the northeast corner of the Western Arctic since 1999. Another lease sale is currently planned in the northwest portion for 2004 thus incrementally creeping both leasing and exploration westward. This new lease sale is part of an out-all effort by the Bush Administration’s “National Energy Policy” to develop Alaska’s Arctic at all costs. The next image will automatically load in a few seconds... or you can click the >> icons to move from image to image. <<  |  >>