Dems slam Arctic drilling plan as ‘polar payout’ to Big Oil
WASHINGTON (AP) – Democrats and environmental groups are denouncing a Republican plan to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saying it would defile a crown jewel of U.S. wilderness to promote oil exports to China and other nations.
Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts called the plan a “massive corporate handout to Big Oil” that amounted to a “polar payout.”
The Trump administration and congressional Republicans are pushing the drilling plan, a longtime GOP goal, as a way to help pay for proposed tax cuts. The plan is included in a GOP budget proposal.
Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state called the GOP plan a “sneak attack” on the nation’s wildest place. The remote refuge is home to polar bears, caribou, snowy owls and other wildlife.