12/13/24

Northern lights appear in the sky in Interior Alaska. Photo by Emily Mesner

This week, our staff is excited to share that Senator Dan Sullivan's Ambler Road rider in the National Defense Authorization Act has been officially removed. While there's still more to be done to ensure permanent protections in the Brooks Range, we extend our gratitude to all those who made this possible. Keep reading on to learn more about the Bureau of Land Management's Record of Decision for a mandated oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain and check out some fascinating nature-related news. 

- Emily Mesner (mesner@northern.org)

  Communications Coordinator

After six months of tireless advocacy from Indigenous leaders, activists, and coalition partners, Senator Dan Sullivan’s Ambler Road rider was officially removed from the National Defense Authorization Act! The road was defeated in June when the Department of the Interior selected the No Action Alternative and revoked permits for the road–Sullivan's amendment in the NDAA would have forced approval of those permits anyway. We’re incredibly grateful for those who phone-banked, traveled to D.C. to lobby, plus the 22,000+ individuals who signed a petition opposing the rider. Thanks to these efforts, the Brooks Range continues to be protected from the road and mineral development!

A caribou photographed near Nuiqsut in July 2018. Photo by Keri Oberly

This week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its Record of Decision for a mandated oil and gas leasing program in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain. They also announced the lease sale will be held on Jan. 9, 2025 and the Biden administration will open up 400,000 acres–the minimum amount of land required by law. 

What to know about the program’s history:

• The 2017 Trump-era Tax Act mandated two separate oil and gas leases on the coastal plain of the Refuge by the end of 2024.
• Using public state funds, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) got seven leases during the first lease sale in January of 2021.
• The Bureau of Land Management’s environmental review was severely lacking under President Trump, so the Biden administration quickly suspended the leases, and began a supplemental environmental review process.
• Those leases were officially canceled late in 2023, and judges have repeatedly upheld the federal government’s actions. AIDEA is the only entity pursuing leases in the Refuge, and continues to waste public money in court challenging this decision.
• This Record of Decision follows a Final Environmental Impact Statement released in November. Because of the Tax Act, the administration is required to hold a lease sale, regardless of the harm it will cause.

This October, AIDEA passed a resolution enabling them to bid up to $20 million at next month’s lease sale, so we fully expect them to bid again. From damaging plans for the Ambler mining road to pursuing oil and gas in the Refuge, AIDEA proves time after time that for them, Alaska’s environment and people are not a priority.

Any oil and gas development on the coastal plain will harm Indigenous communities across the region, and make the impacts of the climate crisis worse. The state legislature has the legal power to cut AIDEA off from its disastrous investments. It’s time to hold AIDEA accountable. 

We’ll continue to share ways to support the Refuge and stand up to AIDEA in the coming weeks and months.

A new report on critical mineral recycling shows that it’s increasing across the globe, with benefits including more energy security, reduced emissions, stronger supply chains, and reduced social and environmental impacts. The study shows that critical minerals recycling is on the rise and could provide as much as 40% of copper and cobalt demand and up to 25% of lithium and nickel demand by 2050. Recycling systems still require significant buildout and need stronger standards, however, the current growth of the industry shows major promise for reduced environmental impacts and a smoother transition to an electrified society.

A screenshot showing the footprint of Alaska Gasline Development Corporation’s proposed Alaska LNG Project. (https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/f59beb7effe74d1f95389a9350abcf49)

At a Dec. 7 board meeting, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) passed a resolution to support oil developers’ ill-conceived designs for an Alaskan Liquified Natural Gas pipeline (LNG). The resolution would serve as a $50 million guarantee for an undisclosed private company to start a front-end engineering design study of the pipeline. 

So, if the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation’s (AGDC) hopes for a massive influx in private investment for the pipeline don’t pan out, AIDEA is essentially promising to give away $50 million of public funds, with nothing to show in return. 

The idea of the LNG pipeline–running from the North Slope to the Kenai Peninsula–is not new. The only thing that seems to be changing over the past decade is the price tag. The state has spent millions on keeping this dream afloat in recent years, without progress. Now, estimates for the proposed 800-mile pipeline project are over $44 billion. 

To make the astronomical cost more approachable, AGDC is trying to repackage the LNG pipeline into pieces. The state corporation is framing phase one of the project as a nearly $11 billion pipeline, but consulting company Wood Mckenzie, whose report offers these estimates, say the total cost of this initial development could be more than $14 billion. 

Even though a key piece of the feasibility report entails 90 percent of Fairbanksans converting to natural gas within three years, a spur line to connect Fairbanks to this pipeline is estimated at an additional $180 million. AGDC has not shared where they envision any of this money would actually coming from, but with millions already spent and AIDEA serving as a so-called $50 million ‘backstop’, this project has already cost Alaskans too much.

Sunset on the Macomb Plateau. Photo by Alex Wong

Thank you to everyone who donated to our Giving Tuesday campaign for Adventure Borealis! You raised enough to rent all of the equipment for four students and subsidize an Alaskan student to attend the Leadership At Macomb Plateau retreat. I am confident we will meet our goal of fully sponsoring two students by next fall, thanks to generous supporters like you.

- Christin Swearingen, Manager of Donor Joy

Orcas swim near Seward, Alaska. Photo by Emily Mesner

A recent orca sighting recalls a mystifying 1980s phenomenon. Is it happening again?

"In 1987, a group of killer whales off the northwestern coast of North America briefly donned salmon “hats,” carrying dead fish on their heads for weeks," writes Mindy Weisberger for CNN. "Recently, a male orca known as J27, or “Blackberry,” was photographed in Washington’s Puget Sound wearing a salmon on his head, and many observers declared that the trend had returned."

A 35,000-Year-Old Saber-Toothed Cub Was Unearthed in Siberia—and It Still Had Its Whiskers and Claws

From Alexa Robles-Gil for Smithsonian Magazine, read about the unearthing of a three-week-old saber-toothed kitten preserved in the permafrost. 

• In this video from Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, learn more about how AIDEA is irresponsibly wasting state funds and ignoring the voices of Alaskans. Click here to sign SILA’s petition holding AIDEA accountable.
• Save the Date! Yukon River Science Symposium is in February. Register to attend in-person in Anchorage, or virtually here.
• Learn about the collaborative effort to redesign the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge sign, and its inclusion of a local landscape and species. Click here to read. 

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The Northern Alaska Environmental Center promotes conservation of the environment and sustainable resource stewardship in Interior and Arctic Alaska through education and advocacy.

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