In Alaska, Obama Highlights Climate Change While His Decisions Draw Accusations of 'Hypocrisy'

WASHINGTON -- As President Barack Obama visits Alaska this week, he is facing criticism and outright outrage from environmental advocates who say his focus on climate change while in the region contradicts his administration's decision to allow Shell to drill there.

The administration granted Shell permission to begin exploratory oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi Sea this summer. And Obama plans to put a major emphasis on climate change during his visit to Alaska, the frontline of climate change's effects in the United States. Environmental groups say the mixed messaging from Obama constitutes "climate hypocrisy." The liberal group Credo Action put up a website mocking Obama's visit as his "Mission Accomplished" moment, likening it to George W. Bush's 2003 speech declaring that the U.S. had "prevailed" in Iraq.