Change is Coming: An Alaskan Oil Saga

Produced for KGNU radio program The Brink

Summary: The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a 20 million acre expanse of land on Alaska’s North Slope. It is home to the Inupiat village of Kaktovik and the breeding grounds of the Porcupine Caribou, the primary food source for another Native group, the Gwich’in people. As the Trump administration pushes legislation to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge up to drilling, the Gwich’in people express concern for their well-being and culture, while some Inupiat people of Kaktovik support drilling for the potential economic benefits it may bring. But the debate is not black and white, and legislation is live in Congress now to protect the Refuge from drilling.