The Biden administration on Wednesday took a step to advance legally mandated drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge — but plans to do so on the least amount of land possible.
The administration said it completed the final environmental analysis for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — the penultimate step toward auctioning off pieces of the nature preserve for oil exploration.
The federal government was required under then-President Trump's signature 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to hold two auctions for the rights to drill in the reserve by the end of 2024.
The first lease sale was held at the very end of the Trump administration, but the Biden administration later suspended the leases issued under it.
The Biden administration now says it will hold another sale, as mandated by law, but it will do so on the smallest amount of land possible under the law — 400,000 acres.
The Arctic refuge is home to grizzly bears, polar bears, gray wolves, caribou and more than 200 species of birds and contains land considered sacred by the Gwich’in people. Drilling there is highly controversial among conservation advocates.
Final approval of the plan for new leases will occur in no fewer than 30 days. The administration said in a press release that in opening areas for potential oil and gas drilling, it will avoid important habitat areas for polar bears and caribou calving.
Amid significant activist pushback against drilling in the refuge, there were very few bids the first time rights to drill were offered. When it suspended the few leases that were issued in 2021, the Biden administration said there were “multiple legal deficiencies” in the record supporting them.
The latest announcement comes one day after Trump clinched a second term after defeating Vice President Harris in the general election.
