Alaska has filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration, alleging violations of a Congressional mandate to permit oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The lawsuit, submitted Monday in the U.S. District Court in Alaska, challenges restrictions imposed by the federal government on a December 2024 decision to auction oil and gas leases in the ANWR coastal plain.
The state argues that limits on surface use and occupancy render 400,000 acres designated for development “impossible or impracticable” to utilize. These restrictions, it claims, severely undermine future oil exploration and drilling in the region.
“Interior’s continued opposition to responsible energy development keeps America dependent on foreign energy instead of utilizing our vast resources,” said Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy.
Alaska seeks to overturn the December decision and block the Interior Department from issuing restricted leases in the upcoming auction. The department has not yet commented on the lawsuit.
Alaska contends that combined with the cancellation of leases issued during Donald Trump’s presidency, the state will collect only a fraction of the $1.1 billion in lease-related revenues initially projected by Congress.
This legal move follows several lawsuits by Alaska over Biden administration efforts to protect the 19.6-million-acre ANWR, home to species like polar bears and caribou. In October 2023, Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority sued over the cancellation of its seven leases, and a July 2024 lawsuit sought lost revenue.
Drilling in the ANWR was prohibited for decades until a Trump-backed 2017 law allowed it. Nine leases were issued in Trump’s final days, but under Biden, two leaseholders withdrew, and the remaining leases were canceled in September 2024.
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