JUNEAU, Alaska — A U.S. judge on Tuesday refused to halt an oil and gas lease sale for Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that was pushed by the Trump administration in its final days.
U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason’s decision came after conservationists and Indigenous groups argued that the lease sale scheduled for Wednesday and a survey program were based on inadequate environmental reviews or outdated information.
The ruling involves a region valued by conservationists for its beauty and wildlife and seen as sacred to some Indigenous people but viewed by others as a way to boost oil production and create jobs.
The judge was asked to halt the sale until underlying lawsuits are resolved. But in her ruling, Gleason said the groups had not shown a likelihood of harm necessary for her to grant an injunction now and found the government had not taken final action on a survey proposal.
She left open the possibility for the groups to seek a future injunction if the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approves “ground-disturbing activities” in the refuge’s coastal plain before she rules in the underlying cases.
Organizations that sought to block the issuance of leases expressed disappointment with Gleason’s ruling but vowed to keep fighting.
“This administration steamrolled through a disrespectful, harmful, illegal leasing plan, and we plan to stop it,” said Bernadette Demientieff, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, which was formed by Indigenous leaders who oppose drilling in the refuge. “While that didn’t happen today, that day will come.”
Nicholas Goodwin, a spokesperson for the U.S. Interior Department, called the ruling “expected and unsurprising. The Department of the Interior looks forward to proceeding with appropriate dispatch to achieve the clear direction it received from Congress in 2017.”
The Bureau of Land Management has said the sale is in keeping with a 2017 law that called for at least two lease sales to be held within 10 years. Critics say President Donald Trump’s administration is trying to rush the process before President-elect Joe Biden takes office later this month. During the campaign, Biden expressed interest in “permanently protecting” the refuge.
The fight over opening to development the refuge’s coastal plain goes back decades for a state that has had its economic fortunes long tied to oil.
Supporters see it as a way to bolster oil production and create or sustain jobs in a rural region that relies heavily on the industry.
Critics counter the region is special, providing habitat for wildlife including caribou, polar and grizzly bears, wolves and birds, and should be off limits to drilling. The Indigenous Gwich’in consider the refuge’s coastal plain sacred and have argued that protecting it and a caribou herd that migrates to the area is a human rights issue.
It’s not clear what level of interest there might be among companies in drilling in the area. Kara Moriarty, president and CEO of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, has said companies keep such intentions quiet for competitive reasons. North Slope oil has ticked above $50 a barrel in recent weeks after being below that mark for much of 2020.
