President Joe Biden has signed an executive order imposing a temporary moratorium on oil and gas activity in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, hours after its inauguration Wednesday and one day after the Trump administration signed nine oil and gas leases in the resort’s coastal plain.
The moratorium was one of several actions Biden carried out during his first hour, which gave a strong signal that the new presidential administration would take a very different approach to Alaska’s resource issues than the previous one. It fell under a broad executive order, which is seen as an action to protect health and the environment and to address climate change.
“In view of the alleged legal shortcomings underlying the program, including the inadequate environmental review required by the National Environmental Policy Act, the Secretary of the Interior, as appropriate and in accordance with applicable law, should impose a temporary moratorium on all activities of the Federal Government with regard to the implementation of the Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing Program, ”reads the order.
The moratorium, which the Alaskan political leaders immediately brought back, is not protected the refuge, as promised on the Biden-Harris campaign. But it could be a step in the right direction with Democrats controlling both the chambers of Congress and the White House.
The drill in the 19-million-acre refuge made huge profits under former President Donald Trump. A Republican-led congress approved it in the 2017 Tax Reduction and Jobs Act, which requires rental sales by the end of 2021 and 2024, which achieved a decade-old dream of Alaska’s congressional delegations.
The first sale was held early this month, but it faltered amid intense opposition from conservation groups, vows by major banks not to fund the exploration in the refuge and the challenging market conditions. Only two small companies and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, a state agency with limited experience in oil and gas activities, have purchased leases. Oil production is not expected to take place in the refuge for at least a decade.
The issuance of the leases for ten years gives the owners the right to take steps to investigate. The issuance will create additional legal barriers to overcome Biden, but experts said Biden’s administration has options to delay or stop it.
The oil and gas leases will be reviewed, Jiden Psaki, Biden’s press secretary, said in a briefing with reporters on Wednesday.
The order also states that the Home Secretary “will review the program and, as appropriate and in accordance with applicable law, conduct a new, comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impacts of the oil and gas program.”
Alaska’s Republican leaders quickly condemned Biden’s order.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy said in a statement that the decision to “stop” ANWR development was expected, saying the new government considered the state “more of an area or a colony, as opposed to an equal state in the union ‘.
“I am willing to use every available resource to fight for Alaskans’ right to have a job, and to have a future by taking advantage of every opportunity we have available,” Dunleavy said.
“Well, it was fast,” U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan said in a statement. “In his inaugural address today, President Biden called for national unity and healing. But just hours before, his government turned its attention to radical environmentalists by imposing sanctions and divisions against Alaska, many other resource-developing states, and entire sectors of our economy. ‘
Senator Lisa Murkowski said she was ‘surprised’ to see Biden endanger work on his first day on the job.
“Over the past month, we have seen significant progress in selling, signing and issuing leases in the non-wilderness (coastal area of the refuge),” she said. “The government of Biden must faithfully enforce the law and allow good progress to continue.”
“This is not the time to reverse our progress with ANWR, especially amid an economic downturn caused by a global pandemic,” Rep. Don Young said.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the coastal plain could contain billions of barrels of oil, and Alaska leaders have long looked to the prospect of drilling there as a way to sustain the state’s future economy. But opponents of the drilling say oil and gas activity will exacerbate global warming and endanger the sensitive Arctic region and the polar bears and the porcupine herd that use it.
The Gwich’in steering committee, which advocates for Alaska Indigenous people who depend on the Porcupine caribou herd for food, thanked Biden and Harris early Wednesday.
‘Mashi’ choo, President Biden. The Gwich’in nation is grateful to the president for his commitment to the protection of holy lands and the Gwich’in way of life, “said Bernadette Demientieff, executive director of the Gwich’in management committee.
“We know there is so much work ahead, and we are grateful that the President will act early to protect these countries forever,” Demientieff said.
Dan Kish with the Institute for Energy Research in Washington, DC, a group that analyzes energy market regulation and supports development in ANWR, said the leases would have the opportunity to sue if they felt the Biden administration did not do not comply with rental conditions.
“If the government drags its feet over things, it could be sued or bought for substantial sums,” Kish said. ‘I have seen circumstances where leases have been vacated by government action. There were big payouts. ”
“And there was far less potential energy than lies in ANWR,” he added. “You are talking about estimated quantities (oil) that are worth huge sums of money that could possibly be the government’s obligation.”
Kara Moriarty of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association said it was disappointing to see the Biden government move quickly before engaging with stakeholders.
“These quick decisions will affect the long-term future for Alaskans and the country,” she said. ‘The demand for oil and gas will not disappear in the next few decades. We are ready to work with this government to find a common ground on future issues. Our state’s economy depends on a vibrant industry. ”
Matt Newman, a lawyer for the Native American Rights Fund – representing Alaska indigenous tribes of Arctic Village and Venice, who sued to stop the rental program in the refuge – said issuing leases would create additional legal barriers to the Bid administration to follow, if it plans to revoke it.
But Newman said the government could take several ways to stop drilling. The courts can also decide that the leases should be revoked if multiple lawsuits against the lease program are successful.
As for the moratorium, Biden could temporarily suspend the leases or refuse to issue federal authorizations for oil and gas activities to enter the refuge, including for a proposed seismic program that would investigate oil in the refuge, Newman said. said.
“It’s a guessing game, but I think a giant pause button for ANWR is about to be hit,” Newman said.
He said the federal government had previously suspended leases. Former President Barack Obama’s government has suspended oil and gas leases in Montana in an area sacred to the Blackfeet Nation. Federal courts upheld the ruling.
“It’s not uncommon for Home Affairs to suspend leases in light of new information emerging or a concern about how the original decision was made,” Newman said.
What happens in the long term with rentals in the resort, as required by the 2017 tax law, is more unknown, Newman said.
Larry Persily, a former deputy commissioner for revenue in Alaska, said a moratorium on drilling in the refuge may have no impact on the state’s economy in the short term. The limited interest in the hire purchase indicates that there would not be much activity taking place anyway, he said.
“Alaskans need to stop dreaming about ANWR and start thinking about other things,” he said.
A spokesman for the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, which has obtained about $ 9 million in seven leases on the west coast of the resort, said the agency would not speculate on what Biden could do and would not comment further. .
David Wall, head of 88 Energy in Australia, owner of a subsidiary that issued a single tract in the refuge, said he hopes to develop pieces that the company owns on state land, just west of the refuge. This can enable his business to drain oil under the refuge, without putting a foot in it.
He said Biden could stop drilling in the refuge, but the next president might reopen it.
“It’s clear Biden would do something like that,” Wall said. “It’s not for us.”
He said the company is focused on the long term.
“Nothing is permanent,” Wall said.