Interior Department on Wednesday said it would cancel oil and gas leases in a federal wildlife refuge that were bought by an Alaska state development agency in the final days of former President Donald Trump's administration.
Environmentalists and an Alaska indigenous group praised the move while a Republican Senator from Alaska slammed it.
A Republican-passed tax bill in 2017 opened the area to oil and gas leasing and directed Interior to hold two lease sales by December 2024.
The oil and gas industry largely failed to embrace the 2021 lease sale, which generated just $14 million in high bids, mostly from AIDEA.
“We commend Secretary Haaland for canceling unlawfully issued oil-and-gas leases in the Arctic Refuge,” Abigail Dillen, president of environmental group Earthjustice, said in a statement.
Persons:
Donald Trump's, Joe Biden, Biden, Deb Haaland, AIDEA, “, ” Abigail Dillen, Dan Sullivan, Interior's, Jarrett Renshaw, Nichola Groom, Chizu Nomiyama, David Gregorio, Mark Porter
Organizations:
U.S . Fish, Wildlife Service, Library, Fish, REUTERS, Conocophillips, U.S . Interior Department, Alaska Industrial Development, Export Authority, Wildlife, Democrat, National Petroleum Reserve, Alaska Natives, Trump, ConocoPhillips, United Nations, ALASKA Trump's Interior Department, Republican, Biden, Thomson
Locations:
Beaufort, Wildlife Service Alaska, U.S, Alaska, United States, ALASKA Trump's, ANWR, Washington, Los Angeles