Defenders Appalled by Oil and Gas Lease Sales Set to Open in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Defenders of Wildlife released the following statement today on the Department of the Interior’s final Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which follows the release of its final supplemental review. The Record of Decision makes available at least 400,000 acres of the 1.6-million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The lease sale will take place on January 9, 2025.

“Turning the coastal plain into an oilfield will obliterate the pristine wilderness of the Arctic Refuge, directly threatening the future of the Porcupine caribou herd and the physical, cultural and spiritual existence of the Gwich’in people who depend on them,” said Nicole Whittington-Evans, Alaska senior program director for Defenders of Wildlife. “Defenders again calls on Congress to repeal this deeply misguided  mandate that threatens an iconic American landscape.”

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act mandated the first-ever oil and gas lease sales in the Refuge for 2021 and 2024. The first sale was unsuccessful, generating no interest from the oil industry and less than 1% of projected sale revenue. The few leases sold were either relinquished by the purchasers or canceled by the Biden administration.