Alaska to press for ANWR seismic study

摘要

Alaska plans to apply for a federal permit to conduct 3D seismic studies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), stepping up governor Sean Parnell’s efforts to nudge the federal gov-ernment to open the refuge to exploration. Hoping to break the decades-old impasse over the federal refuge in north-ern Alaska, Parnell in May rolled out a plan to explore ANWR’s 1.5mn acre (6,000km2) coastal plain, known as the 1002 area, in “partnership” with the fed-eral government (WPA, 24 May, p11). But US Interior Department secretary Sally Jewell rejected the plan, saying the administration remains opposed to exploration in the refuge.