(Featured image by Ryan Arash Marsh of Sunset Pass)
A truly disappointing court ruling on Tuesday allowed the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) to retain harmful oil and gas leases on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Under President Biden, the Department of the Interior found numerous flaws with the 2017 Tax Act’s mandated Refuge leasing program. This resulted in the cancellation of previously approved leases in the Refuge’s coastal plain. AIDEA sued the federal government over these cancellations. Working with Trustees for Alaska, the Gwich’in Steering Committee and other allies, Northern Center intervened* in the case to defend DOI’s decision to cancel AIDEA’s leases.
“The first Trump administration—in a rush to issue coastal plain leases before leaving office—shirked the many legal processes that are in place to protect vital landscapes like the Refuge,” said Elisabeth Balster Dabney, executive director of the Northern Alaska Environmental Center. “The Department of the Interior acted in good faith to address these legal errors by canceling the leases. Allowing these leases is a legal travesty and an incredible setback for Alaska’s people, wildlife, and waters.”
No major oil companies showed any interest in any leases in 2021, and there were zero bidders at the most recent mandated lease sale this January. Oil industry advocates regularly overestimate oil potential in the Refuge—original claims that lease sales would generate around $2 billion over a decade were off by nearly $2 billion.
The state’s political pursuit of oil development in the Refuge does not make financial sense, and comes at a steep cost to the rights of Arctic communities and the health of these ecosystems.
We will continue to challenge AIDEA’s pursuit of oil and gas exploitation in the Refuge, including attempts to conduct harmful seismic surveys next winter.
*a procedure where a third party, not originally involved in a lawsuit, seeks to join the case to protect their own interests related to the subject matter
