The Interior Department on Thursday announced plans to open millions of acres of near-pristine land in Alaska to oil drilling and allow a new pipeline to be built across the state.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the department will permit oil and gas leases on 82% of the 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, overturning protections President Joe Biden finalized last year. The agency will also reinstate a program allowing drilling in the 1.56 million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the country’s largest preserve of its kind.
Federal land transfer
The department also plans to transfer federal land to the state to support the construction of a pipeline to transport liquefied natural gas for export to Asia and a road critical to operating a planned copper and zinc mine in northern Alaska. Nearly a year ago, Biden administration officials blocked the land transfer for Ambler Road, which was slated to traverse Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, citing potential harm to Indigenous communities and wildlife habitat.
For decades, politicians have debated whether to develop Alaska, which holds vast fossil fuel and mineral reserves while also encompassing the largest stretches of untouched wilderness in the United States. Republican presidents have often pushed for exploration, only for Democrats to impose restrictions.
“It’s time for the U.S. to embrace Alaska’s abundant and largely untapped resources as a pathway to prosperity for the nation, including Alaskans,” Burgum said in a statement. “For far too long, the federal government has created too many barriers to capitalizing on the state’s energy potential.”
Upon taking office Jan. 20, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to reverse Biden’s policies and “unleash Alaska’s extraordinary energy potential.” Interior officials said these policy changes mark the first steps in implementing that directive.
Environmentalists, however, criticized the move.
“Any oil drilling or any leasing is going to severely impair what’s really special about the refuge,” said Bobby McEnaney, director of land conservation at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group. “The refuge is home to just an extraordinary number of species of wildlife, habitat for polar bears, for musk ox and for caribou. It’s important to a lot of Indigenous people who live up there.”
Alex Johnson, an Arctic and Alaska campaigner for the National Parks Conservation Association, said the proposed Ambler Road would cut through “one of the most spectacular intact landscapes in the entire national parks system,” including 11 major river crossings.
“This order is deeply concerning for anyone who cares about national parks and wildlife in the Arctic,” Johnson said.
‘National energy emergency’
Trump has vowed to “drill, baby, drill” to ramp up U.S. oil and gas production and address what he calls a “national energy emergency.” While there is industry interest in developing parts of Alaska’s North Slope, including the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, oil and gas companies have largely avoided bidding on leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
In an email, Kara Moriarty, president of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, praised Burgum’s announcement for “recognizing Alaska’s extraordinary resource potential and taking meaningful steps to development.” She called for a balance between responsible development and conservation.
On Wednesday, Trump met with oil executives at the White House to discuss permitting and rolling back regulations. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Burgum, when taking questions, did not say whether Trump discussed drilling in new areas.
Trump’s push to accelerate production is part of his campaign promise to lower costs and fight inflation. Wright, who previously suggested oil prices could drop to $50 a barrel from about $70 currently, said prices were not discussed in the meeting with executives.