Biden to Suspend Trump’s Oil Leases in Arctic
The Biden administration is suspending Arctic refuge drilling rights that were sold in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency, dealing a victory to environmentalists who have argued for decades against oil development in the remote, wild region of Alaska.
Under an Interior Department order issued yesterday, the agency is temporarily halting action on nine leases spanning more than 400,000 acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while it conducts a fresh environmental analysis of the program.
The department’s Bureau of Land Management will review the potential legal deficiencies and environmental impacts of the Jan. 6 sale of oil leases in the refuge. Just two oil companies and an Alaska economic development corporation participated in buying the right to explore for oil and gas on tracts in the refuge’s coastal plain during that January auction.
White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy called the move “an important step forward fulfilling President Biden’s promise to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”
President Joe Biden vowed to permanently protect the refuge during last year’s campaign, and on his first day in office issued an executive order directing the Interior Department to review Arctic refuge oil development decisions by his predecessor. But his administration has defended a separate Trump-era decision to greenlight a massive ConocoPhillips Alaska oil development in the National Petroleum Reserve—a top priority for the state’s Republican congressional delegation, including senior Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in the order that she had “identified multiple legal deficiencies” in the administrative record supporting the leases, including insufficient environmental analysis. Read more from Jennifer A. Dlouhy.
“While throwing out these illegal leases is in important reprieve for the Arctic Refuge, our work is not done,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), who in February offered legislation that would repeal language in the 2017 tax reform law that allows oil and gas leasing and production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain. “This whole misadventure underscores the importance of achieving permanent protection for the coastal plain. I look forward to working with President Biden and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland toward that end, and I applaud them for the leadership and integrity they showed today.”
By: Zachary Sherwood
Source: Bloomberg
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