With the Stroke of a Pen, Trump Claims Victory in the Decades-Long Battle Over ANWR

The Daily Caller covers the ANWR provision of the tax reform bill.

President Donald Trump signed tax reform legislation that also ends the battle over oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) that’s divided lawmakers for decades.

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Environmentalists argued for years caribou, polar bears and other animals could be harmed by drilling operations — despite decades of drilling in nearby Prudhoe Bay not degrading the environment.

“Now, ANWR opponents have adopted a new set of talking points, claiming that we shouldn’t drill in ANWR because the price of oil is too low,” Will Yeatman, a senior fellow at the free market Competitive Enterprise Institute, said in an emailed statement.

“This suggests that if the price was right, they would support drilling,” Yeatman said. “Out of the other side of their mouths, environmentalists claim that any drilling is unacceptable, because it would contribute to supposedly catastrophic climate change.”

“By stark contrast to the reasoning of ANWR opposition, drilling is supported overwhelmingly by citizens of the state – 78 percent in fact, as well as by the Governor, state legislature, and the entire congressional delegation,” Yeatman said.

Read the full statement at The Daily Caller.