Alaska Oil Drilling: Norton May Have Misrepresented Data

[Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton] left out the [U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service's] scientific data that suggested caribou could be affected by oil drilling, while including data that supported her case for exploration in the refuge, documents show. Norton also added data that were erroneous, stating that caribou calving has been concentrated outside the proposed drilling area in 11 of the last 18 years, when the opposite is true... Fish and Wildlife is a purely environmental agency that does not concern itself with economic development or America's dependence on imported oil; it's no secret that most of its employees oppose industrial development in the refuge. Norton is a conservative Cabinet member who has led the administration's pro-drilling campaign."