The Trump administration authorized a sweeping plan to sell drilling rights and spur oil development in Alaska’s rugged Arctic refuge, setting up a possible auction by the end of 2020 and a political clash if the president loses the November election.

The Interior Department’s decision approves oil leasing across the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s entire 1.56-million-acre coastal plain -- an area the size of Delaware that’s home to polar bears and caribou. 

The decision sets the stage for the federal government to potentially auction Arctic drilling rights in the final quarter of 2020 -- and a possible confrontation next year if President Donald Trump doesn’t win re-election.

Although the refuge has long beckoned the energy sector with the potential for mammoth oil discoveries, it is unclear whether companies will aggressively bid on the territory.

Environmentalists argue Arctic oil development imperils one of the country’s last truly wild places -- a swath of northeast Alaska populated by Arctic foxes, polar bears, caribou herds and more than 200 species of birds. 

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