President Joe Biden signed an executive order establishing a temporary moratorium on oil and gas activities at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, hours after his inauguration on Wednesday and a day after the Trump administration issued nine oil lease agreements and gas on the coastal plain of the refuge.
The moratorium was one of several actions that Biden issued during its early hours, sending a strong signal that the new presidential administration will take a very different approach to Alaskan resource issues than the previous one. It is part of a comprehensive executive order, announced as an action to protect public health and the environment and to tackle climate change.
“In light of the alleged legal deficiencies underlying the program, including the inadequacy of the environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Law, the Secretary of the Interior must, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, place a temporary moratorium on all school activities. Federal Government in relation to the implementation of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program ”, said the dispatch.
The moratorium, which drew an immediate reaction from Alaskan political leaders, falls short of permanently protecting the refuge, as promised on the Biden-Harris campaign website. But it could be a step in that direction with Democrats controlling Congressional chambers and the White House.
Drilling in the 19 million-acre refuge has made huge gains with former President Donald Trump. A Republican-led Congress passed the 2017 Tax and Employment Reduction Act, requiring the sale of leases by the end of 2021 and 2024, fulfilling a decades-old dream for Alaska congressional delegations.
The first sale was made earlier this month, but it failed amid intense opposition from conservation groups, promises from major banks not to finance exploration in the refuge and challenging market conditions. Only two small companies and the Alaskan Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state agency with limited experience in oil and gas activities, purchased leases. Oil production in the refuge, if it occurs, should not happen for at least a decade.
The concession of ten-year leases gives the owners the legal right to take measures to proceed with the exploration. The issuance will create extra legal obstacles for Biden to overcome, but experts said the Biden government has ways of delaying or preventing this.
Oil and gas leases will be reviewed, Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki told a news conference on Wednesday.
The order also says that the Interior Secretary “must review the program and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, conduct a new comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the oil and gas program.”
Alaskan Republican leaders quickly condemned Biden’s order.
Governor Mike Dunleavy in a statement said the decision to “end” ANWR development was expected and said the new administration sees the state as “more of a territory or colony, as opposed to an equal state in the union”.
“I am prepared to use all the resources available to fight for Alaska’s right to a job and to have a future, taking advantage of all the opportunities available to us,” said Dunleavy.
“Well, that was quick,” said US Senator Dan Sullivan in a statement. “Today, in his inaugural address, President Biden called for national unity and healing. However, just a few hours earlier, his government followed the tips of radical environmentalists in issuing punitive and divisive actions against Alaska, many other resource development states and entire sectors of our economy. “
Senator Lisa Murkowski said she was “surprised” to see Biden put jobs at risk on his first day in office.
“In the past month, we saw significant progress with the sale, subscription and issuing of leases in the non-wild area (coastal area of the refuge),” she said. “The Biden administration must faithfully implement the law and allow this good progress to continue.”
“This is not the time to reverse our progress at ANWR, especially in the midst of an economic slowdown caused by a global pandemic,” said Rep. Don Young.
The US Geological Survey estimated that the refuge’s coastal plain could contain billions of barrels of oil, and Alaskan leaders have long looked to the prospect of drilling there as a way to sustain the state’s future economy. But opponents of drilling say oil and gas activity would exacerbate global warming and endanger the sensitive Arctic region and the herd of polar bears and hedgehogs that use it.
The Gwich’in Steering Committee, defending the native Alaskan people who depend on the Porcupine caribou herd for food, thanked Biden and Harris earlier on Wednesday.
“Mashi ‘choo, President Biden. The Gwich’in Nation is grateful to the President for his commitment to protecting sacred lands and the Gwich’in way of life, ”said Bernadette Demientieff, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee.
“We know there is a lot of work ahead of us and we are grateful that the president is taking early action to help protect these lands forever,” said Demientieff.
Dan Kish of the Institute for Energy Research in Washington, DC, a group that analyzes energy market regulation and supports development at ANWR, said lessees will have an opportunity to sue if they think the Biden government is not meeting the terms. of the lease.
“If the government drags on things, they can be litigated or bought for considerable amounts,” said Kish. “I saw circumstances in which the leases were canceled by government action. There were big payments. “
“And there was much less potential energy than ANWR,” he added. “You are talking about estimated amounts (of oil) that are worth huge sums of money that could potentially be a government obligation.”
Kara Moriarty, of the Alaskan Oil and Gas Association, said it was disappointing to see the Biden government acting quickly before interacting with stakeholders.
“These quick decisions will have an impact on the long-term future for the people of Alaska and the country,” she said. “The demand for oil and gas will not decrease in the coming decades. We are ready to work with this administration to find common ground on future issues. Our state’s economy depends on a vibrant industry. “
Matt Newman, a lawyer for the Native American Rights Fund – who represents the Alaskan Native tribes of Arctic Village and Venetie who filed a lawsuit to prevent the tenancy program at the refuge – said issuing leases will create additional legal barriers for the Biden government below if you want to revoke them.
But Newman said there are several avenues the government can take to stop drilling. Courts can also decide that leases should be revoked, if several lawsuits filed against the lease program are successful.
As for proceeding with the moratorium, Biden may temporarily suspend leases or refuse to issue the necessary federal permits for oil and gas activity to continue at the refuge, including a proposed seismic program that would exploit oil at the refuge, Newman said.
“This is a guessing game, but I think a giant ANWR pause button is about to be triggered,” said Newman.
He said the federal government had suspended leases before. Former President Barack Obama’s administration suspended oil and gas leases in Montana in a sacred area for the Blackfeet nation. Federal courts upheld the decision.
“It is not uncommon for the Interior to suspend rental activities in the light of new information that emerges or a concern about how the original decision was made,” said Newman.
What happens in the long run with rental in the refuge, as it is required by the 2017 tax law, is more unknown, Newman said.
Larry Persily, a former Alaskan deputy revenue commissioner, said a moratorium on drilling at the refuge should not have a short-term impact on the state’s economy. Limited interest in selling the lease indicates that little activity, if any, would be happening there anyway, he said.
“Alaskans have to stop dreaming about ANWR and start thinking about other things,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the Alaskan Industrial Development and Export Authority, which acquired seven leases on the western coastal plain of the refuge for about $ 9 million, said the agency would not speculate on what Biden could do and would not provide additional comments.
David Wall, head of 88 Energy, based in Australia, who owns a subsidiary that received a single deal at the refuge, said he hopes to develop deals maintained by the company on state land just west of the refuge. This can allow your company to drain the oil under the refuge, without putting your feet inside it.
He said Biden could stop drilling at the refuge, but the next president could open it again.
“It’s obvious that (Biden) would do something like that,” said Wall. “It is not so worrying for us.”
He said the company is focused on the long term.
“Nothing is permanent,” said Wall.