(CN) — The Biden administration announced the end of seven oil drilling leases in Alaska’s Arctic Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday, reversing deals under the Trump administration while promising to limit new leasing for oil development within Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve.
The oil and gas leases, which were all sold in early January 2021, permitted development over ten years on more than 430,000 acres of land in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a region home to native polar bears, caribou, snowy owls and other wildlife. It is also considered sacred land by the indigenous Gwich’in Nation, a tribe on the southern boundary of the refuge.
Authorized by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, the lease cancellation follows a previous suspension of the leases in June 2021 after the Interior identified “multiple legal deficiencies in the underlying record supporting the leases,” including insufficient analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act and “failure to properly interpret the Tax Act.”
“With climate change warming the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet, we must do everything within our control to meet the highest standards of care to protect this fragile ecosystem,” Haaland said in a statement, adding that President Joe Biden is “delivering on the most ambitious climate and conservation agenda in history.”
“The steps we are taking today further that commitment, based on the best available science and in recognition of the Indigenous knowledge of the original stewards of this area, to safeguard our public lands for future generations,” Haaland said.
In addition to canceling the Arctic leases, the Interior Department announced proposed regulations for Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve that would limit new oil development leasing on over 13 million acres of land, while enhancing access for subsistence activities.
The proposed rule, the department said, would not affect current oil and gas operations, which includes the Biden administration’s recent approval of ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project on the North Slope — the largest oil drilling project on U.S. public land in decades.
But while the Biden administration’s move to protect Arctic lands may quell some of the criticism received after approving the Willow Project, Wednesday’s decision immediately drew a rebuke from Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy.
“It’s clear that President Biden needs a refresher on the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine,” Dunleavy wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Federal agencies don’t get to rewrite laws, and that is exactly what the Department of the Interior is trying to do here.”
Dunleavy added that the state “will fight for Alaska’s right to develop its own resources and will be turning to the courts to correct the Biden administration’s wrong.”
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority — the state agency that held the leases — also issued a statement condemning the cancellation, reiterating that it lawfully bid on the leases in 2020 after Congress designated the area for oil production through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017.
“This latest action by the Department of the Interior shows arbitrary disregard for federal law, based on campaign trail rhetoric,” the agency wrote, citing how Biden previously made campaign promises to shut down oil and gas production on federal lands and the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.
The agency vowed to take the matter to the courts to reveal the administration’s “real motives.”
“A willingness to circumvent laws passed by Congress has consequences reaching far beyond ANWR’s boundaries, and will impact future development across this country,” the agency added. “AIDEA will aggressively defend our lease rights and oppose this unlawful action.”
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