US restricts drilling and mining in Alaska wilderness, angering state
leaders
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[April 19, 2024]
By Nichola Groom
(Reuters) - The Biden administration on Friday took steps to limit both
oil and gas drilling and mining in Alaska, angering state officials who
said the restrictions will cost jobs and make the U.S. reliant on
foreign resources.
The measures are aligned with President Joe Biden's efforts to rein in
oil and gas activities on public lands and conserve 30% of U.S. lands
and waters to combat climate change.
The Interior Department finalized a regulation to block oil and gas
development on 40% of Alaska's National Petroleum Preserve to protect
habitats for polar bears, caribou and other wildlife and the way of life
of indigenous communities.
The agency also said it would reject a proposal by a state agency to
construct a 211-mile (340-km) road intended to enable mine development
in the Ambler Mining District in north central Alaska.
The agency cited risks to caribou and fish populations that dozens of
native communities rely on for subsistence.
"I am proud that my Administration is taking action to conserve more
than 13 million acres in the Western Arctic and to honor the culture,
history, and enduring wisdom of Alaska Natives who have lived on and
stewarded these lands since time immemorial," Biden said in a statement.
The NPR-A, as it is known, is a 23-million-acre (93-million hectare)
area on the state's North Slope that is the largest tract of undisturbed
public land in the United States. The new rule would prohibit oil and
gas leasing on 10.6 million acres (4.3 million hectares) while limiting
development on more than 2 million additional acres.
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The Brooks mountain range spreads out to the horizon in northern
Alaska March 17, 2011. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo
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The rule would not affect existing oil and gas operations, including
ConocoPhillips' $8 billion Willow project, which the Biden
administration approved last year.
Currently, oil and gas leases cover about 2.5 million acres (1
hectare).
The Ambler Access Project, proposed by the Alaska Industrial and
Development Export Authority (AIDEA), would enable mine development
in an area with copper, zinc and lead deposits and create jobs,
AIDEA has said.
Interior's Bureau of Land Management released its environmental
analysis of the project on Friday, recommending "no action" as its
preferred alternative. The project now faces a final decision by the
Interior Department.
Republican senators from Alaska and several other states held a
press conference on Thursday to slam the administration's widely
anticipated decisions.
"When you take off access to our resources, when you say you cannot
drill, you cannot produce, you cannot explore, you cannot move it --
this is the energy insecurity that we're talking about," Alaska
Senator Lisa Murkowski said. "We're still going to need the
germanium, the gallium, the copper. We're still going to need the
oil. But we're just not going to get it from Alaska."
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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