President Biden Administration suspended the Alaska Arctic Refuge Oil Leases

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On Tuesday, the Biden administration suspended oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The move reversed a drilling program approved by the Trump administration and reviving a political fight over a remote region that is home to polar bears & other wildlife and a rich reserve of oil. The order from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is part of a temporary moratorium on oil and gas lease activities earlier imposed by President Joe Biden. The executive order of Biden on 20^th January suggested a new environmental review to address possible legal loopholes in a drilling program approved by the Trump administration. Haaland conducted a review and said, “It identified defects in the underlying record of decision supporting the leases, including the lack of analysis of a reasonable range of alternatives required under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Point to be noted that the remote, 19.6 million-acre refuge is home to polar bears, caribou, snowy owls, and other wildlife, as well as birds migrating from 6 continents. Republicans and the oil industry have long been trying to open up the oil-rich refuge, which is considered sacred by the Indigenous Gwich’in, for drilling. However, Democrats, environmental groups, and some Alaska Native tribes have been trying to block it. They also admired the Interior Department order, but Alaska’s all-Republican congressional delegation criticized it as misguided and illegal. The US Bureau of Land Management held a lease sale for the refuge’s coastal plain on 6^th January. The agency signed leases just after 8 days, for 9 tracts totaling nearly 685 square miles. Moreover, the issuance of the leases wasn’t declared publicly until 19^th January 2021.

President Biden has opposed drilling in the region and environmental groups have been pushing for permanent protection. The recent move to suspend the leases came after officials disappointed environmental groups by defending a Trump administration decision to approve a major oil project on Alaska’s North Slope. It is noteworthy that the US Justice Department said in a court filing that opponents of the Willow project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska were looking to stop development. The filing also defends the reviews underpinning last fall’s decision to approve project plans. The acting executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League, Kristen Miller praised the suspension of the Arctic leasing program. She said, “Suspending these leases is a step in the right direction, and we commend the Biden administration for committing to a new program analysis that prioritizes sound science and adequate tribal consultation″.