No More Drilling for Oil in This Wilderness

Oil drilling leases have been suspended in Alaska’s wildlife refuge in the United States, until at least a complete environmental analysis is done that shows the impacts oil drilling has on the fragile tundra as well as on wild animals like caribou and polar bears.

“Suspending leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a major step forward in keeping President Biden’s campaign promise and cutting carbon pollution,” says Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters.

Alaska sits on potentially 11 billion barrels of oil, and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s agency will do a thorough environmental analysis, as well as a legal review of the previous administration’s decision to grant those leases on drilling. Now, environmental groups are calling for a permanent ban on Arctic drilling because “until the leases are canceled, they will remain a threat to one of the wildest places left in America,” says Kristen Miller, acting director of the Alaska Wilderness League.