U.S. Blocks Report On Arctic Area As It Prepares Auctioning It Off

The United States has blocked an assessment of oil and gas activity in the Arctic as it prepares to sell off an area in the Chukchi Sea off of Alaska. The area is one of the last remaining habitats that is intact of the polar bear.

The blocking of the report that was released in Norway is a "huge frustration" to scientists that are involved in the race to harass the vast energy reserves of the Arctic. The report was to bring together work done by scientists in the eight Arctic nations and give a true exploitation of oil and gas in the region. The propose was to figure out how to safely extract what is thought to be up to a quarter of the world's energy reserve.

"They [the US] have blocked it. We have no executive summary and no plain language conclusions."

one of the lead authors who asked not to be named

Earlier this month the Bush Administration announced that they were planning on auctioning off 30 million acres of the Chukchi Sea on February 6. The Sea separates Alaska and Russia. Criticisms have been running rapid since the announcement. The sale to oil and gas companies have been rushed through before the U.S. Congress has a chance to protect the polar bears under the Endangered Species Act. This move could create future problems as the Bush Administration begins to auction off the habitat to oil companies. The report had recommendations about how to advance without endangering ecologically sensitive areas.

"For a polar bear population already stressed due to massive climate change, these activities could be the last straw," said Kassie Siegel, the climate director at the US-based Centre for Biological Diversity.