Obama Moves to Block Development in Arctic Refuge

For 35 years, Democrats and Republicans have been fighting over petroleum reserves in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Reserve. Over the weekend, the Obama White House announced another aggressive use of executive authority to halt oil exploration, a proposal to designate 12 million additional acres of Alaska as wilderness.

The message was gentle, but to the ears of Alaskan politicians, it was grating. Andrew Restuccia is energy and environment reporter for Politico.