Life in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge

A new estimate of the amount of oil beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has reignited the debate over whether or not to allow oil wells in the remote Alaskan preserve. Much of the land is officially designated as wilderness. But a slice of the refuge’s coastal plain was left without such protection, because of the oil deposits, and that’s the spot the oil companies want to open for drilling. Last summer, Living on Earth’s senior correspondent Peter Thomson traveled to the arctic refuge for a first-hand look at the place and its people. He brought back this report.