The Trump administration this week will begin the environmental review process for oil and gas drilling on a section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a region in northern Alaska rich in crude but prized by conservationists. In a notice from the U.S. Department of the Interior seen by Reuters, which the agency will post on Friday, it says it will hold meetings in five Alaskan towns where the public can speak about drilling in the refuge. It is the first step in the review process, which will consider proposed seismic testing and exploration plans. The tax bill passed by the Republican-led Congress late last year allowed the Interior Department to hold two lease sales in part of the 1.5-million-acre (600,000-hectare). In 1980, when Congress created the refuge, it designated the “1002 area” […]