With news breaking that state-owned Alaska corporation AIDEA approved up to $20 million for potential Arctic refuge leasing bids, and The Washington Post publishing a sweeping article highlighting this breathtaking and ecologically vital landscape, now is the time to take notice. The Arctic is not only ground zero for climate change but facing a drilling threat that endangers its wildlife and the cultural and spiritual survival of Indigenous communities who have stewarded these lands for millennia.
This November’s election will play a critical role in deciding the future of the Arctic refuge. Donald Trump has made it clear that if reelected, he will waste no time opening it to oil and gas development.
Seven years ago President Trump’s 2017 Tax Act marked a historic shift for the Arctic refuge by explicitly designating oil and gas development as one of its purposes, erasing over 50 years of hard-fought protections
The future of the Arctic refuge is in our hands. It’s time for Congress to end the threat of oil drilling in the Arctic refuge permanently and secure lasting protections. And it’s up to us to show up to the polls on Nov. 5 to defend this wild place.
