One week ago, the Obama administration launched its National Strategy for the Arctic Region, outlining the government's strategic priorities over the next 10 years.

New draft rules for fracking on public lands, released by the federal Bureau of Land Management today, would leave drinking water supplies for millions of Americans, as well as millions of acres of wild lands, at risk, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The rules need to be strengthened in a number of ways in order to protect public health and the environment.

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed an updated set of rules governing hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” on public lands today. The controversial oil and gas development technique—in which drillers blast millions of gallons of chemically treated water into the earth to force oil and gas from underground deposits—has been linked to air and water pollution and public health problems.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management released new draft rules for fracking on public lands Thursday afternoon that would vastly weaken safeguards against the highly toxic gas extraction process, which has already done untold damage to public water, land and air.