Already stressed by climate change, polar bears are one of the Arctic species that would be threatened by an offshore oil spill.

Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Despite a glaring lack of scientific information about the Arctic Ocean, or effective technology to address a major oil spill, the Obama administration is following the previous administration’s lead and positioning itself to expand offshore oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas over the next five years in its 2012-2017 drilling plan. Region:  Alaska Read more

Another victory in the Arctic!  The Arctic Ocean’s pristine waters and abundant wildlife are safe from drilling for another year. Shell Oil announced Feb. 3 that it has abandoned its plans to drill an exploratory well in the Beaufort Sea several miles off the coast of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2011. Region:  Alaska Read more

Chukchi Sea, Alaska. Courtesy USFWS.

Like many students, I often put projects off until the last minute. This was a great source of aggravation to my parents, who would be besieged by requests for rides to the library at 8 pm the night before research papers were due. This lack of foresight on my part led to several sub-par efforts, and many teachers cited a “hurried” feel to the papers or projects in question. Read more