Biden moves to block oil drilling in Alaskan wilderness

Proposal would prohibit new leasing on more than 40% of state’s National Petroleum Reserve.

A polar bear with its cubs in the Sea Ice off Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay. Picture: AFP

The Biden administration moved to ban oil drilling in a swath of Alaskan wilderness, including cancelling all remaining oil and gas leases issued in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge under the previous administration.

The announcement on Wednesday comes after the Biden administration approved the Willow oil-drilling project in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve earlier this year over the objections of many Democrats and environmentalists.

The Interior Department’s proposed regulation would bar new oil or gas leasing on 4.3 million hectares, or more than 40 per centof the National Petroleum Reserve. The reserve is a 9.3 million hectare area managed by the department.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said she also authorised the cancellation of seven oil and gas leases issued by the Trump administration in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The leases had been suspended in 2021.

“As the climate crisis warms the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the world, we have a responsibility to protect this treasured region for all ages,” President Joe Biden said in a statement on Wednesday.

Senator Lisa Murkowski (Republican, Alaska) criticised the decision, suggesting it was driven by politics rather than sound policy.

“It just kind of sends a signal that when it comes to Alaska, it depends on the whim of an administration,” Senator Murkowski said. “But that’s not coherent, in my view.”

Politicians in Washington have been looking for a way forward on energy policy as they grapple with concerns over overseas threats, high prices and climate change. While the Biden administration has tried to strike a balance on oil drilling, Republicans have consistently pushed for increased energy production.

A GOP-authored bill that passed the House of Representatives in March would boost oil and gas production and accelerate new projects by streamlining environmental reviews, though it isn’t expected to move forward in the Democratic Party-controlled Senate.

Republican 2024 presidential hopefuls have made the same case for expediting production. “This isn’t that complicated, guys, unlock American energy, drill, frack, burn coal and embrace nuclear,” entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said at last month’s GOP primary debate in Milwaukee. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he would “open up all energy production.” The approval of the Willow project earlier this year allowed Houston-based ConocoPhillips to go ahead with the roughly $US7bn ($11bn) project in the National Petroleum Reserve. At its peak, the company expects to produce 180,000 barrels of oil a day there.

The new actions by the Biden administration don’t impact the Willow project, which won the support of the oil-and-gas industry and Alaska’s congressional delegation, as well as many Alaskans.

The reserve was originally established in 1923 for the US Navy, and was later transferred to the Interior Department in 1976. The isolated region in northwest Alaska is home to caribou, polar bears and walruses. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while similar in size at about 7.7 million hectares, is in northeast Alaska and is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. About the size of South Carolina, the refuge has no roads and was established in 1960.

Following the new rule proposed for the reserve Wednesday, there will be a 60-day public comment period. A draft of a supplemental environmental impact statement related to the cancelled leases will also be available for public comment.

Lindsay Wise contributed to this article.

The Wall Street Journal