Alexis Bonogofsky for USFWS
For decades, the Arctic has been on the frontlines of climate action. Its ecosystems are some of the few that are fully intact in the United States, but those Arctic lands and waters have been under constant threat by oil and gas firms seeking to extract natural resources and profit at the expense of Alaska natives, local communities, and the wildlife who rely on this place. Nowhere has this been more true than the unparalleled landscapes of the Arctic Refuge.
On September 6, President Biden took decisive action to protect this place for generations to come. In one of the boldest environmental moves taken by the Biden administration to date, the Department of the Interior announced a package of reforms and actions that will help protect the Arctic in Alaska and the people who depend on it. The package includes:
1. Issuance of a new draft supplemental environmental impact statement (DSEIS) for the Arctic Refuge. An EIS is a document that comprehensively studies the environmental and socioeconomic effects of major projects to guide government decision-making. This new document will replace the poorly done and industry-friendly EIS issued under the Trump administration that opened up the entire coastal plain of the refuge for oil and gas development.
This SEIS includes a new proposed plan that would ban leasing for almost half of the vital coastal plain and would create restrictions on development. Donald Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act legally requires the Bureau of Land Management to make 800,000 acres of the Arctic Refuge available for oil and gas leasing , but Biden’s proposal could limit the damage of this harmful law. While we want the oil and gas leasing program eliminated and the Arctic Refuge permanently protected, this new plan offers far more protections than previous proposals, and it will help hold the line until we are able to overturn the dangerous Trump provisions once and for all.
2. Canceled the existing leases in the Arctic Refuge.
One of President Trump's last significant attacks on the natural world was rushing to approve an oil and gas lease in the Refuge just before his term ended. As of September 6, President Biden has ended those leases! Going into 2024, no oil and gas interests have any extraction rights in the Refuge. This is huge!
3. Expanded protections for 13 million acres in the wildlife-rich Western Arctic.
The Western Arctic is the largest contiguous piece of public land in the U.S. This move represents a major step forward towards protecting 30 percent of all lands and waters in the country by 2030, which is necessary for taking on the climate crisis.
These announcements were huge, but we’re not done yet. We’re working to strengthen these proposals by asking the administration to bolster protections on things like substance impacts for Alaska Natives, polar bears, and the Porcupine Caribou herd.
We need your support more than ever to thank the White House and the Department of the Interior for this monumental action and push them to finalize new regulations that provide maximum protection for this vital landscape. Right now, the federal government is seeking public comments on new rules that could protect the Western Arctic and Arctic Refuge, and every voice counts. Make sure to submit yours today!