In this undated photo provided by the United States Geological Survey, permafrost forms a grid-like pattern in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, managed by the Bureau of Land Management on Alaska’s North Slope.
David W. Houseknecht/United States Geological Survey via AP
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David W. Houseknecht/United States Geological Survey via AP
In this undated photo provided by the United States Geological Survey, permafrost forms a grid-like pattern in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, managed by the Bureau of Land Management on Alaska’s North Slope.
David W. Houseknecht/United States Geological Survey via AP
JUNEAU, Alaska — The Biden administration announced Friday it will restrict new oil and gas leasing on 13 million acres (5.3 million hectares) of a federal oil reserve in Alaska to help protect wildlife like caribou and polar bears as the Arctic continues to warm.
The decision — part of a years-long fight over whether and how to develop the state’s vast oil resources — finalizes protections first proposed last year as the Democratic administration prepared to approve the controversial Willow oil project.
Willow’s approval sparked fury from environmentalists, who said the big oil project violated President Joe Biden’s pledge to combat climate change. Friday’s decision also complements an earlier plan that called for closing nearly half of reserves to oil and gas leasing.
A group of Republican lawmakers, led by Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, stood up ahead of Friday’s announcement about new limitations on Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, before they were announced publicly. Sullivan called it an “unlawful” attack on the lifeblood of the state’s economy and predicted legal action.
“This is more than a double whammy for Alaska,” said Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, “because when you take away access to our resources, when you say you can’t drill, you can’t produce, you can’t explore, you can’t move them — that’s energy insecurity we’re talking about.”
The Interior Department’s decision does not change the terms of existing leases on the reservation and does not affect currently permitted operations, including Willow.
Administration also recommends rejecting Alaska mining road project
The Biden administration also recommended Friday rejecting a state company’s application for a proposed 210-mile (338-kilometer) road in the northwest part of the state to allow mining of critical mineral deposits including copper, cobalt, zinc and silver. and gold. There are no mining projects or current mines in the area, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management determined that the road construction alternatives analyzed “would have a significant and irrevocable impact on the resources,” it said. the agency in a press release. A final decision on the recommendation is pending.
Brian Ridley, head of the Tanana Chiefs Conference, a nonprofit Alaska Native corporation, said “the administration’s choice to reject the Ambler Road project is a monumental step forward in the fight for human rights.” indigenous people and environmental justice. Tribes in the Tanana Chiefs Conference had expressed concerns that a road would harm their communities, land and wildlife.
Sullivan accused the administration of harming U.S. national security interests with both decisions. Alaska’s political leaders have long accused the administration of harming the state with decisions limiting the development of oil and gas, minerals and timber.
“Joe Biden is OK with our adversaries producing energy and dominating the world’s critical minerals while shutting down ours in America, as long as the far-left radicals he sees as the key to his re-election are satisfied,” Sullivan said Thursday at the Capitol. press conference with 10 other Republican senators: “What a dangerous world this president has created. »
Biden defended his decision regarding oil reserves.
“Alaska’s majestic, rugged lands and waters are among the most remarkable and healthiest landscapes in the world,” are essential to Alaska Native communities and “demand our protection,” he said in a press release.
Nagruk Harcharek, president of Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, a group whose members include leaders from much of Alaska’s North Slope region, said in a statement that the decision “does not reflect the wishes of our communities.” The group’s board of directors has already passed a resolution opposing the administration’s plans for the reserve, and Harcharek expressed frustration that local leaders were not consulted before details of the administration’s proposal was not published last September.
“From our perspective, essentially, you’re reducing the economic potential to a point where we don’t know,” he said in an interview about Friday’s announcement. “There are a lot of unknowns associated with this.”
Oil industry calls reserves decision ‘step in the wrong direction’
The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry’s main lobbying group, called the rule “misguided” and said it significantly limits future oil and natural gas development in the oil reserve, “a region explicitly intended by Congress to strengthen America’s energy security. generate revenue for Alaska communities.
“At a time when the world is looking for American leadership in energy, this is yet another step in the wrong direction,” said Dustin Meyer, API senior vice president.
The oil reserve, located about 100 miles west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is home to caribou and polar bears and provides habitat for millions of migratory birds. It was set aside about a century ago as an emergency oil source for the U.S. Navy, but since the 1970s it has been overseen by the Interior Department. There is a long-standing and ongoing debate about where oil and gas development should take place.
Most of the existing leases in the oil reserve are clustered in an area considered to have high development potential, according to the Bureau of Land Management, part of the Interior Department. The potential for development in other parts of the reserve is lower, the agency said.
The rules announced Friday would impose restrictions on future leasing and industrial development in areas designated as special for their wildlife, subsistence or other values and call on the agency to regularly evaluate whether to designate new special areas or strengthen protections in these areas. The agency cited as justification rapidly changing conditions in the Arctic due to climate change, including thawing permafrost and changes in plant life and wildlife corridors.
ConocoPhillips Alaska, which owns leases and projects in the oil reserve, including Willow, is reviewing the decision “to determine its scope and effects,” according to a company statement.
Environmentalists welcome the decision
Environmentalists were delighted with Friday’s decision.
“The Biden administration’s actions for the U.S. Arctic show a commitment to conservation that meets the needs of the region’s vastness and ecological value,” said Alaska Executive Director Kristen Miller. Wilderness League. “Our nation’s public lands are a critical part of addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis, and this decision could not come at a more critical time.”
Activist Bill McKibben called the decision a “massive victory,” adding: “We lost the fight against Willow, but the huge outcry meant that real good came from this debacle. »
Jeremy Lieb, a lawyer at Earthjustice, called the decision an important step but called for “even bolder action to keep the fossil fuel industry out of the Arctic, for the sake of the climate and future generations.” . Earthjustice is currently embroiled in litigation before a federal appeals court that seeks to overturn Willow’s approval.
A decision in this case is pending.
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