A federal judge in Alaska on Tuesday ruled the Biden administration lacked the authority to cancel seven oil and gas leases that had been issued for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason said terms of a 2017 tax law that set the stage for the first-ever lease sale in the refuge’s coastal plain in early 2021 suggested that leases could only be canceled by a court order. She sent the matter back to the Department of Interior for further action.
President Donald Trump upon his return to office in January signed an Alaska-specific executive order that among other things had sought to rescind the lease cancelation.
The tax law called for two lease sale offerings by late 2024 in the refuge’s coastal plain, a roughly 1.5 million acre (more than 6 million hectare) swath of the vast refuge that borders the Beaufort Sea and is home to such wildlife as polar bears, caribou and birds. The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state corporation, was the major bidder in the first sale, which was held in the waning days of the first Trump administration. Small companies won two other leases but gave them up.
Gleason in 2021 had rejected calls by drilling opponents to halt that first lease sale until underlying lawsuits were resolved.
The second sale, held shortly before Biden left office, drew no bids. It was criticized by Alaska political leaders as too restrictive to attract interest, but environmental groups pointed to a lack of interest from oil companies as a reason to put the long-running debate over whether to allow drilling to rest.
Tuesday's decision, in a case brought by the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority against the Interior Department and federal officials, is the latest twist in the decades-long fight.
Gwich’in leaders have opposed drilling on the coastal plain, which they consider sacred, citing its importance to caribou they rely upon. Leaders of the Iñupiaq community of Kaktovik, which is within the refuge, have expressed support for drilling, as have Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the state's congressional delegation.
Dunleavy in a statement lauded the decision: "Now the leasing program can move forward and could result in more safe, secure energy production right here in Alaska.”
Gwich'in leaders and environmental groups vowed to keep fighting.
"While we are deeply disappointed by today’s ruling, we want to be clear that this decision does not diminish our determination to protect these sacred lands,” Raeann Garnett, First Chief of the Native Village of Venetie Tribal Government, said in a statement.
