Alaksa needs to expand its search for oil, to help fight climate change, according to the State Governor.

The BBC reports that Governor of Alaska Bill Walker wants to “urgently” drill in the protected area of the Arctic National Wilderness Refuge to raise funds to help combat climate change. Alaska has been suffering severe effects of global warming, with rising sea levels forcing the relocation of numerous remote villages.

The dropping price of oil has hit State revenues hard and Shell’s withdrawal from a planned project in the Chukchi sea off the Alaskan coast has further depend the financial hole in the State’s books. The loss of the project means the Alaskan Pipeline, which carries oil over 1,300km to the tanker terminal in Valdez, is still only running at 25% of its two million barrels-per-day capacity.

With coastal erosion endangering several more remote villages the Governor says the State needs to find funds.

"We are in a significant fiscal challenge. We have villages that are washing away because of changes in the climate," he said.

"I don't see anyone putting together contribution funds to help move Kivalina; that is our obligation, we stand by that - we need to figure out how to do that. But those are very expensive - we have about 12 villages in that situation.”

Mr Walker told the BBC that drilling was therefore necessary to cover these costs.

Environmentalists have strongly opposed the plan, saying it is a “simplistic” one.

"What's going on in villages is certainly of concern to me as an Alaskan but I think the governor knows there's never going to be enough money to move everybody that needs to be moved as climate change continues to advance," said Lois Epstein from the Wilderness Society – a group campaigning to protect public lands.

"It's really not going to be something that the state is going to take on its own. The federal government is going to help, but we really need some bigger strategies to deal with climate change both as a state and a nation,” she added.