The Biden administration on Friday expanded federal protections across millions of acres of Alaska’s wilderness, blocking oil, gas and mining operations on some of the nation’s most pristine land.
The Department of the Interior announced it would deny a permit for an industrial road that the state of Alaska wanted to build through the gates of Arctic National Park and Preserve to reach a giant copper deposit with an estimated value of $7.5 billion. It also announced a ban on drilling on more than half of Alaska’s 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve, an ecologically sensitive region north of the Arctic Circle.
Together, these two moves represent one of the largest efforts in history to protect Alaskan lands from drilling and mining. Alaska, where oil and gas revenues make up much of the state budget and mining is a major economic driver, is expected to face challenges from industry as well as elected leaders.
“Alaska’s majestic, rugged land and oceans are among the most remarkable and healthy landscapes in the world, supporting the vibrant subsistence economies of Alaska Native communities,” President Biden said in a statement.
The announcement in Alaska, part of an environmental blitz ahead of Earth Day, cements Biden’s legacy on climate change and conservation and marks the end of an $8 billion oil drilling project called Willow, which Biden awarded last year. It’s designed to help win back voters who are still angry about the decision to approve. Alaska.
Over the past few weeks, the government has announced tough new emissions limits for cars. It made it easier to preserve federal lands while increasing the cost of drilling and mining on public lands. and issued numerous regulations to limit toxic chemicals in the air and drinking water. Biden also expanded the boundaries of several national monuments.
“From protecting sacred sites near the Grand Canyon to protecting Alaska’s treasures, my administration has conserved more than 41 million acres of land and water,” Biden said. “But more must be done as the climate crisis puts communities across the country at risk. My administration will respond to the urgency of the climate crisis, protect America’s lands and waters, and We will continue to take ambitious actions to fulfill our responsibility to the next generation of Americans.”
The Department of the Interior has determined “no action should be taken” on a proposal to build a 211-mile industrial road through the Brooks Range on untouched federal land. The proposed two-lane gravel road, known as Ambler Road, would cross 11 rivers and thousands of streams before reaching the site of the copper deposits.
The Department of the Interior determined that the road could significantly and irreversibly disrupt wildlife habitat, contaminate salmon spawning areas, and threaten the hunting and fishing traditions of more than 30 Alaska Native communities. did. The agency is expected to formally deny the Alaska Economic Development Authority’s road permit within the next few weeks.
Conservationists and tribal leaders called the government’s decision a historic victory.
Chief Brian Ridley, Tanana Chiefs Conference President, said: A group representing 42 villages in Interior Alaska said the Ambler Road decision “is a monumental step forward in the fight for Indigenous rights and environmental justice.”
But Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, called the roadblock “lawless,” and Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola said it was “unfortunate.”
Further north, the Interior Department has finalized rules to withdraw 13 million acres of Arctic tundra from future oil and gas drilling. This guarantees “maximum protection” for more than half of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, a pristine wilderness on the state’s northern slopes bounded by the Chukchi Sea to the west and the Beaufort Sea to the north.
The decision does not affect the Willow project, Alaska’s largest new oil field in decades, which is expected to produce up to 180,000 barrels per day over the next 30 years.
Republicans argue that cutting millions of acres off oil drilling at the Alaska State Oil Reserve would undermine national security, lead to higher energy prices and deprive Alaska of billions of dollars in tax revenue. did.
“The Biden administration has no problem shutting down markets in the United States while our adversaries produce energy and control the world’s critical mineral markets,” Sullivan said, along with senior state senator Lisa Murkowski. He made this statement at a press conference on Thursday attended by nine people. Senate Republicans.
Murkowski said Biden is “destabilizing our security as a nation in ways that most people never thought about.” She accused the Biden administration of wanting to “lock down Alaska.”
U.S. oil production is at record levels, and the United States is the world’s leading exporter of liquefied natural gas.
Oil industry leaders have indicated they intend to challenge the legality of the administration’s actions.
Dustin Meyer said, “This misguided rule by the Biden administration will significantly limit future oil and gas development in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, a region that strengthens America’s energy security.” “It is an area explicitly intended by Congress to generate significant economic growth and income for local Alaska communities.” The American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s main lobbying group, senior vice president for policy, economics and regulation, said in a statement.
The rule also widened a rift among Alaska Natives, already divided over the future of fossil fuels in the Arctic. The Arctic is a region under serious threat from climate change and dependent on oil for employment.
As the planet warms due to greenhouse gas emissions associated with oil, gas and coal, Alaska is warming faster than the bottom 48 states. This means more coastal erosion, melting permafrost and sea ice, unstable ground, and more wildfires in the state.
At the same time, about 95 percent of the North Slope Borough’s $410 million annual budget, which borders the oil reserves, comes from local taxes on oil and gas operations. “There is no other economy in our region,” said Doreen Leavitt, natural resources director for the Arctic Slope Inupiat community.
The Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, located about 900 miles north of Anchorage, was established in 1923 as an oil source for the U.S. Navy.
It is the largest single area of public land in the United States. Despite having “oil” in the name, some of the Arctic Coastal Plain’s most valuable fish and wildlife habitat is located within the preserve.
“It’s very misunderstood by the public,” says Gerrit Vin, a producer and cinematographer at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who has documented migratory birds in the Arctic.
“People think of it as just a windswept tundra, but NPR-A is the largest wetland area in the Arctic and has the highest nesting density of shorebirds anywhere in the world,” Vinh said. Told.
Areas protected under the Interior Department’s decision include habitat for grizzly bears, polar bears, caribou, and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. Government officials said they view the new measures as a “firewall” against both future fossil fuel leases and expansion of existing projects on the North Slope.
The Home Office said the move was in response to concerns from the United States. For thousands of years, Alaska Native communities have relied on land, water, and wildlife to sustain their lives.
Rosemary Atuangaruak is the former mayor of Nuiqust, an Inupiat community of just 550 people, the village closest to the Willow site.
“For too long, oil and gas company executives have prioritized our voices and the needs of the communities that live here,” said Atuangaruak, who now runs an environmental organization in Alaska. said in a statement.
She added, “The administration must continue to strengthen these critical protections to protect wildlife habitat and the health of Alaska Native communities, so we can continue to protect wildlife habitat and the health of Alaska Native communities in the years to come.” “We will be able to maintain and pass on the traditions and activities of our elders.”
