Image: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Flickr
The Biden administration revealed on September 6 that they have actually canceled oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Sanctuary (ANWR), per a news release from theDepartment of the Interior An overall of 9 leases were offered throughout the Trump administration, amounting to “more than 430,000 acres” in ANWR. Nevertheless, President Biden released an executive order in 2021 that triggered an evaluation of those leases on the premises that the leases had “numerous legal shortages in the underlying record supporting [them].”
The evaluation has actually concluded with Interior Secretary Deborah Haaland canceling 7 of the leases. 2 of the leases had actually currently been canceled and reimbursed at the demand of the lessee.
In addition to canceling the leases, the Interior Department is proposing brand-new guidelines for ANWR that would “make sure optimum defense for the more than 13 million acres of Unique Locations in the reserve, while supporting subsistence activities for Alaska Native neighborhoods.”
You can find out more about the proposed guidelines, and why the leases were canceled, here.
