Subtitles section Play video
-
Theo Trump administration on Monday took a key step to finalize selling oil drilling leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as it rushes to open the sensitive area for oil and gas exploration.
-
Just before Democrat Joe Biden, who opposes drilling there, becomes president On Monday, a government document showed the administration issued a request to energy companies to pick areas in the refuge that they would be interested in.
-
The document will be officially published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, according to the Department of the Interior.
-
That would start the clock on a 60 day period before sales could take place in the refuge, potentially setting up a sale of leases just before Inauguration Day on January 20th.
-
Drilling had been banned in the pristine refuge for decades before a Republican led effort in 2017 removed that ban.
-
The White House earlier this year finalized the plan to allow drilling.
-
The 19 million acre refuge is home to native tribes and wildlife populations, including caribou and polar bears.
-
In recent months, several U.
