The Interior Department proposed regulations that would cancel oil and gas leases which allowed oil drilling in a federal wildlife refuge|Keith Morehouse, USFWS
In a significant move that would help safeguard Alaskan wilderness, the White House announced its decision to overturn Trump-era policies that allowed oil drilling in the ecologically vulnerable region.
The Interior Department proposed regulations that would cancel oil and gas leases, which allowed oil drilling in a federal wildlife refuge. The proposal would also ban new oil and gas drilling in more than 40% of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
President Joe Biden has pledged to protect the 19.6 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for wildlife.
“As the climate crisis warms the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the world, we have a responsibility to protect this treasured region for all ages,” President Joe Biden said.
However, the proposal does not impact the Willow oil project, approved in March by Biden, set to produce approximately 576 million barrels of oil over three decades.