The Biden administration finalized a plan Friday to prevent oil development in more than half of the U.S. government’s massive oil reserves in Alaska and set the stage to block road construction critical to opening a mine of copper in the state.
These two measures are part of a series of actions taken by President Joe Biden to restrict extractive development on federal lands and enclose more than 41 million acres for conservation purposes. They come as Biden seeks to win support from young, climate-conscious voters with his record on saving land and combating global warming, after disappointing some last year by authorizing the massive oil project in Conocophillips, Willow.
“Alaska’s majestic, rugged lands and waters are among the most remarkable and healthiest landscapes in the world, supporting a vibrant subsistence economy for Alaska Native communities,” Biden said in a sent statement by e-mail. “These natural wonders demand our protection. »
The moves drew condemnation from oil, gas and mining interests, who said the Biden administration was blocking critical resources to meet America’s energy needs today and in the future. This includes, they say, critical minerals for batteries and other technologies.
Under the plan presented Friday by the Interior Department, future oil leasing and development contracts are limited to 13 million acres of the 23-acre Alaska National Petroleum Reserve. million acres, designated as “special areas.” And leasing is completely blocked on 10.6 million acres of the reservation.
The agency will also formally solicit public recommendations on whether to further expand special protected areas.
The measure has broad implications for companies with stakes or interests in the reserve, including ConocoPhillips, Santos Ltd., Repsol SA and Armstrong Oil & Gas Inc. The new regulation will apply to existing leases in the area, even if It will not modify the terms of these contracts or affect activities currently permitted under them, such as the 600 million barrel Willow project.
The move was quickly criticized by oil and gas interests, with prices disrupted by tensions in the Middle East.
“As we see more unrest in the Middle East and the world clamors for more oil and gas, the administration is making clear that it would rather see production from other countries that have dismal oil and gas records. environment and human rights. said Kara Moriarty, president of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association.
Critics have already vowed to fight the rule in court. Sen. Dan Sullivan, an Alaska Republican, said opponents could seek to unseat him at the Capitol. As things stand, he said, the regulation amounts to a sanction on domestic energy supplies, even though hostile regimes such as Iran and Russia are free to use their resources for their own purposes. enrichment.
Still, environmentalists welcomed the move, saying it represented a welcome shift in the U.S. government’s approach to the reserve, originally set aside as an energy source for the Navy a century ago and now l one of the largest tracts of unspoiled land in the country.
The NPR-A is “a vast region of tundra and wetlands teeming with wildlife and internationally recognized for its ecological value,” said Jeremy Lieb, an attorney with Earthjustice. The settlement is an important step in defending “the precious landscape from further fossil fuel development that would threaten these irreplaceable lands and waters – and our climate.”
Meda DeWitt, acting Alaska state director at the Wilderness Society, praised Biden for presiding over a series of regulations that together “constitute a comprehensive shift toward a more holistic approach to conservation, climate and of the community in the management of public lands.
On Friday, in a similar vein, the Interior Department recommended against authorizing a critical right-of-way to allow construction of a 211-mile (340-kilometer) road needed to access a copper and copper deposit. zinc in northern Alaska. That sets the stage for a complete rejection of the state-backed Ambler Road project in about 30 days.
In its final environmental impact statement released Friday, the agency concluded the road would have a significant and irrevocable impact on key resources because it would cross waterways and habitats used by migrating caribou. The road was considered the only economically viable way to transport the region’s minerals to market.