11.07.24

Alaska Senators Slam Interior’s Unlawful Attempt to Throttle Responsible Development on Alaska’s Coastal Plain

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA—U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) today released the following statements after the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced a final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the congressionally-mandated oil and gas program on the Coastal Plain of the non-wilderness Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska.

The final SEIS seeks to restrict leasing and development on the Coastal Plain by dramatically departing from the clear and unambiguous language enacted within the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. 

“What DOI has released ignores and makes a mockery of federal law and congressional intent for the Coastal Plain. We were crystal clear: DOI is responsible for an oil and gas program on the Coastal Plain, to benefit those who live on the North Slope and throughout Alaska and beyond,” Murkowski said. “Instead, DOI has chosen to blatantly disregard the law, even after Loper Bright, to attempt to kneecap an entirely reasonable program that can strengthen our economy and national security. It is also deeply offensive and inappropriate for DOI to continue to erase the people of the North Slope — particularly Kaktovik — from the record of this program, as if they don’t exist and shouldn’t have their views on development prevail for the future of the Coastal Plain.”

“One more time, the Biden-Harris administration is violating the law, ignoring Alaskans, particularly our indigenous communities, and undermining one of the core strengths of the United States—American energy,” Sullivan said. “At every turn, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, in alliance with Lower 48 eco-colonialists, have subverted the ANWR oil and gas leasing program mandated by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. First, the Biden-Harris administration ‘suspended’ leases issued under the Trump administration’s 2021 sale and then unlawfully cancelled them outright. Now, they are once again defying federal law by proposing to close three-quarters of the 1002 Area, including lands that are projected to have substantial resources beneath them. The Biden-Harris administration never intended to faithfully implement this law nor has it given any weight to the voices of the Alaska Native people in the region who strongly support responsible resource development in ANWR for the benefit of their communities. All of the Biden-Harris administration’s talk about listening to indigenous voices is so much empty rhetoric when it comes to Alaska. The good news is we will soon be working with a new administration that, unlike Biden-Harris, is fully committed to responsible oil and gas production and Alaska resource development, and respects the voices of the Inupiat people of the North Slope.”

In its final SEIS, the Bureau of Land Management’s “preferred alternative”—self-described as the “most restrictive” of all alternatives—would administratively place 74 percent of the Coastal Plain, or 1,163,500 acres, off-limits to leasing and thus responsible development. Additionally, BLM is administratively restricting seismic testing to the 400,000 leasable acres left available on the Coastal Plain, which will prevent resources across the Coastal Plain from being studied. Among other deficiencies, BLM did not meaningfully consult with leaders of the village of Kaktovik, the only community within ANWR, or Alaska Native leaders on the North Slope.

In 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which established an oil and gas program for the Coastal Plain of ANWR (also known as the “1002 Area”) and required two area-wide lease sales in the area by December 2024. 

Instead of upholding the law and implementing it as Congress directed, the Biden administration has pursued an unlawful pause in the program, illegally rescinded valid issued leases in the area, and deliberately injected uncertainty into the future of leasing and development efforts.

At the same time, the Biden administration has stunningly relaxed sanctions and other production and export restrictions on countries such as Iran and Venezuela, allowing them to increase their production and generate tens of billions of revenues for illicit and corrupt purposes that degrade global security.

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