The Trump administration on Monday issued final approval to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a 19 million acre (7.7 million hectares) refuge that has been off-limits to drilling for decades.
The decision by U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt puts the government on track to sell oil and gas leases in the area within months.
“There certainly could be a lease sale by the end of the year,” Bernhardt told reporters on a conference call, saying he would “move forward expeditiously.”
Environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers have long sought to block the pristine area, which is home to wildlife populations including Porcupine caribou and polar bears, from drilling.
But a Republican-passed tax bill in 2017 opened the area to oil and gas leasing, and Bernhardt said his agency was fulfilling that mandate from Congress.
If found, oil production could begin in ANWR in about 8 years, Bernhardt said, with activity lasting about 50 years.
Alaska’s governor and congressional delegation applauded the decision, saying it would create jobs and boost the state’s economy.
Environmentalists were quick to criticize the move, saying it would harm wildlife and the Arctic ecosystem and was unjustifiable at a time of slumping oil prices.
“It’s absolutely bonkers to endanger this beautiful place during a worldwide oil glut,” said Kristen Monsell, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.
Asked about how the low price of oil might affect an ANWR lease sale, Bernhardt said potential investors were not focused on the spot price of energy when considering long-term projects.
(Reporting by Steve Holland and Susan Heavey; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Will Dunham)
