Twenty organizations mostly representing oil industry businesses and union workers have launched a new ad campaign urging federal policymakers to allow expanded offshore drilling along the Alaskan coast.

President Barack Obama is currently weighing whether to include the Arctic Ocean in the government's offshore leasing program from 2017 to 2022. Environmental groups are urging the administration to exclude Arctic drilling out of concerns it will harm the local ecology.

The oil industry-backed Arctic Coalition is pushing back with a TV ad campaign airing this week in Washington, D.C., markets that touts the economic benefits drilling will have for both Alaskan communities and the country as a whole. The campaign also includes a full-page ad in the Washington Post.

Specifically, coalition members are taking aim at claims that the oil industry is withdrawing from the Arctic Circle because drilling in the region is no longer economically viable.

"Today industry retains over 40 offshore leases in the Arctic and continues to invest millions of dollars into research into oil spill response and preparedness and other areas," said Jeff Eshelman, senior vice president for operations and public affairs at the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a coalition member. "This campaign is further proof that industry is fully committed to responsible offshore development in the region."

Other coalition members include International Association of Geophysical Contractors, National Ocean Industries Association and the Alaska AFL-CIO. http://prn.to/2cnPheP

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