📸 Landscape of wetlands and snowy mountains of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, AK | Lisa Hupp/USFWS
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 9th, 2024 – The Biden administration just announced a Record of Decision (ROD) on the Arctic Refuge leasing program and that it will hold the second lease sale in the crown jewel of America’s National Wildlife Refuge System, as set out in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. This once again puts the coastal plain of the Refuge under threat from those most interested in profiting off of it.
The ROD comes after the release of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) last month, which re-assessed the environmental impacts of the Arctic Refuge oil and gas leasing program. The supplemental review was required because the first analysis by the Trump administration was fundamentally flawed and violated the law. The administration also announced the second lease sale as mandated by law.
The Arctic Refuge drilling program is not only bad for people, bad for wildlife, and bad for the climate, it has also been time-tested and proven that it is fundamentally a bad investment for the taxpayer. Not only has the Federal government not made any money on this failed leasing program, but has spent millions of dollars to try to create a legally-sufficient program. Any lawmaker or administration official who cares about fiscal responsibility should see that it doesn’t make sense.
The fact that banks won’t fund it, insurance companies won’t underwrite it, and drilling in the Refuge has broad, long-standing opposition from the Gwich’in Nation and the American public clearly show that there is nothing to be gained, but much to be lost from developing this irreplaceable landscape.
We, alongside the Gwich’in Steering Committee, Tribal Governments, and Iñupiat allies cannot overstate the need to restore protections for this sacred place. Members of our coalition shared the following statements,
“The Gwich’in Nation has always opposed any oil and gas development in the Coastal Plain within the Arctic Refuge, which is sacred to the Gwich’in people. Our way of life, our food security, and our spiritual well-being is directly tied to the health of the caribou, and the health of this irreplaceable landscape,” said Kristen Moreland, Executive Director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee. “We opposed the first lease sale as mandated by the 2017 Tax Act, and are disappointed that a second lease sale was ever mandated by law – it violates our rights as Indigenous Peoples. Every oil company stayed away from the first lease sale, and we expect them to do the same during the second. We will never stop fighting for our way of life and for our people’s right to a healthy future.”
“Any oil and gas drilling within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge would be a direct threat to the Neets’ąįį Gwich’in way of life and would have catastrophic impacts on the Porcupine Caribou herd," said RaeAnn Garnett, First Chief of Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government. "Our people have relied on this herd for our subsistence practices since time immemorial and expect to be able to rely on it for generations to come. Any oil and gas development poses an undeniable threat to the caribou migration routes, which will impact our traditional subsistence-based way of life. The decision to allow oil and gas leasing on this sacred land impedes on our cultural and subsistence rights. We continue to stand in defense of this sacred land and are steadfast in our opposition to any drilling in the Refuge, now and forever.”
“These lands are perfect and thriving the way they are. The calving grounds on the refuge are critical for the health of the Porcupine Caribou Herd, a herd that deserves our protection from destructive practices of the careless," Nauri Simmonds, Executive Director of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic said. "The time has come for accountability to those who disregard the interests of not only the land that sustains our people, but the water, animals and Original Peoples of our land. We’ve lost enough land to extractive industry, seen enough health problems, lost enough loved ones. Our land protectors have only grown, and will continue to grow. I carry the message of my elders and ancestors, we will be heard."
“While no sale or drilling should ever occur in the Arctic Refuge, we are grateful that the Biden administration selected a conservation-focused approach. The coastal plain is the calving ground of the Porcupine Caribou Herd and considered sacred by the region’s Gwich'in communities,” said Meda DeWitt, Alaska senior manager for The Wilderness Society. “Massive public opposition and the undeniable realities of climate change underscore the imperative that drilling on these hallowed lands is not only misguided but also economically unsound.”
“Drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is all risk with no reward,” said Earthjustice attorney Erik Grafe, who has led litigation to protect the Refuge. “Oil drilling would destroy this beautiful land, held sacred by Gwich’in people, and would further destabilize the global climate, but it offers zero benefit to taxpayers or consumers. We’re committed to going to court as often as necessary to defend the Arctic Refuge from oil drilling and will work toward a more sustainable future that does not depend on ever-expanding oil extraction.”
“Oil and gas development in the Arctic Refuge is a direct threat to some of the last untouched landscapes on Alaska’s North Slope and to the caribou herds that the Gwich’in people rely on,” said Dan Ritzman, director of Sierra Club’s Conservation Campaign. “The 2017 Tax Act, forced through Congress by Donald Trump and his Big Oil CEO allies, opened up the Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing. Letting him oversee a lease sale over these pristine lands would be beyond irresponsible. In the meantime, President Biden should listen to the Gwich’in and do all that he can to preserve these lands and waters. His legacy is on the line.”
“Turning the coastal plain into an oilfield will obliterate the pristine wilderness of the Arctic Refuge, directly threatening the future of the Porcupine caribou herd and the physical, cultural and spiritual existence of the Gwich’in people who depend on them,” said Nicole Whittington-Evans, Alaska senior program director for Defenders of Wildlife. “Defenders again calls on Congress to repeal this deeply misguided mandate that threatens an iconic American landscape.”
“Pursuing leasing and drilling on lands essential to the Porcupine caribou and sacred to the Gwich’in Nation defies logic and sound stewardship,” said Brook Brisson, senior staff attorney with Trustees for Alaska. “It’s fiscally irresponsible and wasteful, destructive to climate and Arctic animals, and harmful to the health of the region and future generations. Congress should restore protections for the coastal plain rather than continue allowing these lands to be used as a political pawn. We will stand with our clients, partners, and the majority of Americans in opposing the leasing of these lands and if that means challenging unlawful decisions in court, we’re prepared to do that again.”
“We will never stop working to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and ensure oil companies never fracture this most sacred landscape,” said Desirée Sorenson-Groves, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Refuge Association. “It has been seven years since the Refuge was opened to the possibility of drilling and still no development has occurred - and it never will because we will never give up our fight to protect it.”
“Pursuing oil and gas development in the Arctic Refuge would not only threaten this pristine ecosystem and cultural homeland with irreversible destruction, it also comes at a huge financial cost for any company short-sighted enough to bid,” said Kristen Miller, Executive Director of Alaska Wilderness League. “The Arctic Refuge deserves to remain a place of refuge, not an industrial oilfield that serves only to line the pockets of big oil executives.”
“While we recognize that a second lease sale in the Arctic Refuge is mandated by law, any oil and gas development on the coastal plain will cause irreparable harm to Indigenous communities across the region,” said Sean McDermott, arctic program coordinator for the Northern Alaska Environmental Center. “Despite ongoing opposition from Alaskans, we expect to see bids from the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), demonstrating their blatant disregard for the wellbeing of Alaska’s people and environment.”
“There is no safe way to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic Refuge that doesn’t negatively impact wildlife and Indigenous communities. The Administration has been put in an impossible situation because of this Congressionally-mandated lease sale, but did the best they could to minimize potential impacts” said David Willms, associate vice president of public lands at the National Wildlife Federation. “We urge Congress to rectify the wrong it initiated seven years ago when it voted to open up this crown jewel of wildlife refuges to development that threatens to harm polar bears, porcupine caribou, musk ox, and hundreds of migratory bird species.”
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As the leading independent voice advocating on behalf of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the National Wildlife Refuge Association protects, promotes, and enhances America’s wildlife heritage through strategic programs that serve the System and wildlife beyond its boundaries. The organization addresses Refuge System funding, management, and strategic growth, while also promoting programs that maximize the system’s conservation impact.
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