January 20, 2021 (Juneau, AK) – Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy issued a statement on today’s decision of incoming President Joe Biden to halt oil and gas activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The decision follows the historic lease sale held on January 6, 2021. Today’s announcement to shut down development in the Arctic […]
Washington — Today, as part of a flurry of Executive Actions that include rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement and stopping the Keystone XL Pipeline, President-elect Joe Biden will take immediate action to protect the sacred lands of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by placing a temporary moratorium on oil and gas leasing activities on its […]
Fairbanks, Alaska — The Gwich’in Steering Committee condemns the Trump administration’s issuance of leases of sacred lands in the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as a violation of their human rights and Indigenous ways of life. “This administration’s decision to hand sacred lands to exploiters shows its commitment to continuing its cowardly […]
ANCHORAGE (AK)— The Gwich’in Steering Committee and allied groups await their day in court after a U.S. District Court decided not to grant their request for an injunction that would have prevented the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from authorizing winter seismic work and issuing leases of lands in the coastal plain of the Arctic […]
Washington — Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its final Record of Decision for a new Integrated Activity Plan for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (Reserve) in America’s western Arctic following a rushed and incomplete process. The new plan opens seven million additional acres within the Reserve to oil leasing, bringing the available […]
ANCHORAGE (AK)— Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic and five allied groups filed a motion in U.S. District Court last week requesting a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order to stop ConocoPhillips from starting winter road construction and gravel mining for its Willow project. “We have experienced rising health issues, and the dismantling of traditional […]
Willow Project Would Mark Major Expansion for Oil, Gas Extraction in Western Arctic ANCHORAGE, Alaska— Conservation groups filed a lawsuit today challenging a massive oil and gas project known as the Willow Master Development Plan in Alaska’s Western Arctic. Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law firm, sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service […]
Washington — This morning the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published in the Federal Register a proposed Incidental Harassment Authorization and accompanying draft environmental assessment that would greenlight the harassment of polar bears during seismic exploration on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Southern […]
Administration’s OK of Hilcorp’s Liberty Project Violated Federal Law, Ignored Climate Change ANCHORAGE, Alaska— The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit today rejected the Trump administration’s approval of the first offshore oil-drilling development in federal Arctic waters. Hilcorp Alaska received approval in 2018 to build and operate the controversial Liberty project, an artificial […]