President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on expanding drilling for "liquid gold," oil and natural gas, across the country, but the Biden administration is working to tie his hands when it comes to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act that Congress passed and Trump signed mandated at least two lease sales in the refuge's 1.6 million-acre coastal plain by the end of 2024, the first of which was auctioned by the Interior Department two weeks before he left office. But the Biden administration reportedly canceled that sale, claiming the Interior Department had done an insufficient analysis of the environmental impact to the region.
On Wednesday, the Washington Post reported a final environmental impact statement released by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) outlining a preferred alternative that calls for offering 400,000 acres — the minimum required by the 2017 law — in the northwest portion of the coastal plain.
The date of the lease sale has yet to be determined. It would follow the next step in the administrative process, which is the issuance of a "record of decision" that makes the choice final, according to Alaska Public Media. That will come no earlier than 30 days after the notice of the supplemental environmental impact statement is published in the Federal Register, which will be Friday, according to the BLM.
The Biden administration's move toward new restrictions on refuge leasing was sharply criticized by supporters of oil development there.
Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, a regional group that has advocated for oil development across the North Slope, said in a statement that local leaders are unified in their opposition to the new plan, Alaska Public Media reported Thursday.
The group singled out the effect on the village of Kaktovik, the easternmost Alaska North Slope community with a population of about 270 and close to much of the Porcupine caribou-calving area the BLM plan has designated for protection.
"It seems that once again the people of the North Slope are being told that our voices and lived experience are insufficient, and that federal laws passed by Congress mean little in the eyes of the Biden administration's Department of the Interior," North Slope Borough Mayor Josiah Patkotak said in the statement. "The federal government's latest actions are shameful and will have serious consequences for Kaktovik and the North Slope. With this latest development, [the Interior Department] has soundly rejected the opportunity to partner in our effort to aptly balance development and preservation in our region."
Rex Rock Sr., president of the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., also criticized the new restrictions.
"There is a majority consensus of elected leadership across the North Slope, including Kaktovik, that responsible resource development is essential to maintaining our economic security and way of life," he said in the Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat statement. "We remain united against any attack on our self-determination."
Newsmax reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.