Shell Oil’s plans to drill in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea have been shot down by a federal appeals court. The Minerals Management Service failed to take a “hard look” at the impact of drilling on whales and subsistence hunters, the court ruled, and there remain “substantial questions as to whether [the plan] may cause significant harm to the people and wildlife of the … region.” MMS must start from scratch with a new environmental review before the project can move forward.
