Joe Biden to halt oil leases in Alaska’s Arctic refuge
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By Matthew Daly
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Washington: The Biden administration is suspending oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as it reviews environmental impacts of drilling in the remote region that has been the focus of a political fight for decades, say two people who have been briefed on the administration’s plan.
The Interior Department order was set to be announced later on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST). It follows a temporary moratorium on oil and gas lease activities imposed by President Joe Biden on his first day in office.
Biden suspends oil leases in Alaska s Arctic refuge
By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press June 1, 2021 3:56pm Text size Copy shortlink:
WASHINGTON The Biden administration on Tuesday suspended oil and gas leases in Alaska s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, reversing a drilling program approved by the Trump administration and reviving a political fight over a remote region that is home to polar bears and other wildlife and a rich reserve of oil.
The Interior Department order follows a temporary moratorium on oil and gas lease activities imposed by President Joe Biden on his first day in office. Biden s Jan. 20 executive order suggested a new environmental review was needed to address possible legal
STATEMENT: CAP’s Jenny Rowland-Shea Praises Suspension of Oil Drilling Leases in Arctic Refuge
Date: June 1, 2021
Contact: Sam Hananel
Jenny Rowland-Shea, deputy director for Public Lands at the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:
The Trump administration knowingly cut corners and ignored science throughout the environmental assessment, lease sale, and antitrust review in its rush to open the Arctic Refuge to drilling. The entire process of administering leases was nothing short of a sham, and the Biden administration is taking the steps needed to clean up this mess.
The Arctic Refuge is sacred to the Gwich’in and Iñupiat people, an irreplaceable landscape for wildlife, and a key piece of carbon-sink infrastructure. The United States simply cannot achieve its conservation or carbon reduction goals if it is drilled for oil. Congress should join the administration and take legislative action now to restore protections for the coastal plain and ens