Trump’s Four-Year Drilling Binge Has Done Irreparable Damage
Although the recent auction of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling rights flopped, Biden’s team will have a tough time rolling back a strategy designed to survive a Democratic White House.
Greg A. Syverson/Getty Images
The Alaskan pipeline near Milne Point, Alaska
Last week, amid the chaos of the Capitol riot, the Trump administration proceeded with plans to sell off chunks of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to the gas and oil industry’s highest bidders. The plan had been in the works for years, and while Congress was still under siege by fervent Trump supporters, the Bureau of Land Management opened the auction with embarrassing results.
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt quietly signed a directive last month that could have significant impacts on how the Bureau of Land Management's law enforcement rangers protect federal lands.
Hoping to stave off more violence, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser yesterday asked Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to cancel permits for all large pre-inauguration gatherings planned on federal property in the next two weeks.