Petersburg Pilot -

ANCHORAGE (AP) — Nearly 400 scientists have signed a letter urging President Obama to eliminate the possibility of Arctic offshore drilling in the near future by taking the Arctic Ocean out of the next federal offshore lease sale plan.

The scientists include Jane Lubchenco, Obama's former administrator of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, now a researcher and teacher at Oregon State University.

“I've witnessed some of the unprecedented changes underway in the Arctic” Lubchenco said in a prepared statement. “Conserving important marine areas is an essential s...