The Biden administration has cancelled North Slope drilling leases previously granted under former president Donald Trump on the day of the Capitol riots..In a statement, the US Department of the Interior (DOI) said it rescinded the permits due to what it said were “multiple legal deficiencies in the underlying record supporting the leases” regarding a controversial land sale in the waning days of the “previous” administration..Following passage of Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act In 2017, it held an oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain on January 6, 2021 — the day of the Capitol attack — and issued 10-year leases on nine tracts covering more than 430,000 acres. .On his first day in office, Biden issued an executive order directing the DOI to review oil and gas leasing in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), “in light of the alleged legal deficiencies underlying the program.” .Since that time, two of the issued leases have been cancelled and refunded at the request of the lessees. The remaining seven leases covered 365,000 acres in the Coastal Plain and were bought by a state-owned Alaska industrial development corporation, which sued over the moratorium..A federal court judge ruled the delay to conduct a new regulatory review was not unreasonable..“With climate change warming the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet, we must do everything within our control to meet the highest standards of care to protect this fragile ecosystem,” said DOI secretary Deb Haaland. .“The steps we are taking today further that commitment, based on the best available science and in recognition of the indigenous knowledge of the original stewards of this area, to safeguard our public lands for future generations.”.The cancellations come even as drilling in the ANWR is supported by the Alaska state legislature and local indigenous communities..In addition to the lease cancellations, the DOI imposed a set of sweeping restrictions covering most of the North Slope and withdrawing 2.8 million acres of the Beaufort Sea, ensuring the entire US Arctic Ocean is off limits to new oil and gas leasing..About 40% of the National Petroleum Reserve is now prohibited from oil drilling. This, despite the fact the federal government is obligated to hold at least two more lease sales by 2024..Trump is presently facing trial for his role in the January 6 riots.
