On Monday, the US government granted oil company Shell permission to begin exploratory drilling at one location in the Arctic Sea off the Alaska coast. That company had been forced to postpone earlier plans for drilling to repair a ship rigged with a capping stack, a device that shuts down a well if there is a loss of control.
The Arctic is a unique treasure. Given what we know, it's not worth the risk of drilling. -H
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) 18 августа 2015
In July, Clinton told a New Hampshire TV station that she was "skeptical" of Arctic drilling and did not see it as a necessary part of the US "clean energy climate change agenda."
On May 11, 2015, the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management gave Shell an initial green light to begin offshore oil drilling in the Chukchi Sea.
Environmental organizations have condemned the decision, pointing out that drilling poses a grave risk to marine life, especially given the technical difficulties of merely staying alive in the region.