Senate Votes to Prioritize Oil Over Arctic Conservation

The United States Senate today approved resolutions under the Congressional Review Act to overturn previous Biden administration protections for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, clearing the way for expanded oil and gas drilling. The rollback is an all-out attack on public lands, Indigenous communities and wildlife in America’s Arctic. Following the House’s decision to nullify these policies, both chambers have also voted to remove protections from the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.  

“Once again, oil and gas development is taking precedence over science-based solutions for conserving wildlife and mitigating climate change. In these instances, the use of the CRA accomplishes nothing meaningful and instead harms iconic species such as polar bears, caribou, wolves and migratory birds,” said Robert Dewey, vice president of government relations at Defenders of Wildlife. “In addition to threatening wildlife, severe regulatory disruption in Alaska is the inevitable result of targeted rollbacks in one of America’s most ecologically critical regions.”

These actions will create negative ripple effects and ultimately grant authority of vulnerable ecosystems to exploitative industry. Defenders will continue to advocate for the decades of protections and bipartisan support responsible for safeguarding our wildlife and habitat in the Arctic and beyond.  

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