We have more good news to share about the ongoing efforts to defend the coastal plain of America’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas drilling! We recently told you that a federal court in Alaska had upheld the Biden administration’s suspension of oil and gas leases issued for the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge. Now there’s more.
On September 6, the Biden administration authorized the cancellation of the remaining seven oil and gas leases issued by the previous administration on the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge—home to countless wildlife species, including polar bears, caribou, muskox, Dall sheep, wolves, wolverines, and more than 200 bird species.
This is an important action that Wilderness Watch, the Gwich’in Steering Committee, allied groups, and YOU—our members and supporters—have been asking the Biden administration to take for nearly three years, so it’s gratifying to see the administration take this critical step.
But our work to defend the Arctic Refuge from those who seek to destroy it is far from over. At the same time the Biden administration authorized the cancellation of these seven leases, it released a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the leasing program in accordance with the so-called Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which ordered two lease sales on the coastal plain by December 2024.
There will be a 45-day public comment period on the draft SEIS, but it hasn’t started yet, so please stay tuned as we’ll once again need all-hands-on-deck to continue protecting the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge.
Ultimately, lasting protection for the refuge will only come if President Biden works with Congress to repeal the "Tax Act" provision that opened the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas leasing, and to pass permanent protections through Wilderness designation for the entire 19.2 million-acre Arctic Refuge. |
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Help us protect Wilderness around the country. A generous member has pledged to DOUBLE all first-time donations up to $30,000 this year. |
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