Biden restricts oil drilling in Alaska

President Biden on Wednesday worked to protect more than 10 million acres of land in Alaska from development by banning oil drilling in vast areas and rescinding leases issued under President Donald Trump in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The preserve is the equivalent size of Denmark and encompasses nearly half (40%) of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), the largest federally owned area in the U.S., which provides habitat for a range of sensitive Arctic wildlife, including caribou, polar and grizzly bears, and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds.

"Alaska is home to many of America's most breathtaking natural wonders and culturally significant areas," the US President's statement said. "With the climate crisis warming the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the world, we have a responsibility to protect this precious region (...)," said Biden.

Do not allow any more drilling on federal land, period.

The permanent ban on new oil and gas development affects 10.6 million hectares of the reserve, but does not block ConocoPhillips' Willow project, which Biden approved there at the beginning of the year and which is set to produce 576 million barrels of oil at three locations over the next three decades. This led to fierce criticism and a worldwide outcry on social media in March, as we reported at the time.

https://news.pro.earth/2023/03/15/praesident-biden-und-stopwillow/

Disappointing carbon footprint

According to ZEIT, the current drilling ban could serve to defuse the massive criticism of the Willow project. However, it was only partially successful. Friends of the Earth, for example, called the new announcements late on Wednesday "a half-measure". "Small measures like the Interior Department's won't erase President Biden's incredibly disappointing climate record on oil and gas leasing," Raena Garcia, the group's senior public lands and fossil fuels activist, said in a statement. "If the administration is truly committed to protecting our people and the planet, it will stop climate-destroying projects like Willow altogether."

 Protecting the habitat is encouraging

Chris Wood, president of the conservation organization Trout Unlimited, takes a somewhat different view. While the measures would not stop the development of Willow - a major target of climate activists - they would ensure the long-term protection of areas that provide vital wildlife habitat, he said. Wood estimates that the federal government has not set aside this many acres of land for conservation since the early 2000s.

"Conservation is a very long game and takes decades," Wood said. "It's rare to have these large-scale opportunities. So it's great and encouraging to see the government showing some boldness when it comes to protecting our lands and waters."

Climate protection versus oil advocates

Drilling in Alaska has complicated Biden's attempt to take aggressive action on climate change. Oil advocates and industry analysts have said some areas of NPR-A are among the richest oil reserves in the country, and Alaska lawmakers have promoted development as a major source of jobs and revenue. But Biden had promised when he took office in 2020 to "not allow any more drilling on federal land, period. Period, period, period." He has clearly not kept this promise. Even the newly planned conservation area is no consolation, which is a good thing in itself.