Biden’s Arctic drilling protections: Indigenous and environmental groups urge further action

Indigenous groups and climate advocates welcome Biden’s proposal to protect the Western Arctic from oil and gas drilling, urging further action for long-term preservation.

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Image Credit: Saul Loeb//AFP via Getty Images

Indigenous groups in Alaska, joined by climate advocates, have welcomed the Biden administration’s proposal to expand protections from oil and gas drilling in the Western Arctic. However, some groups emphasized that the federal government should not stop with the newly announced effort.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced it is opening a 60-day comment period regarding a potential expansion of areas protected from drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A), also known as the Western Arctic. This announcement follows the Biden administration’s previous move three months ago to unveil protections for 13 million acres of the 23 million-acre reserve, barring oil and gas companies from extraction in those areas.

Wildlife, including the 150,000-strong Western Arctic caribou herd, muskoxen, polar bears, migratory birds, and native plants, depend on the reserve as their habitat. The Sierra Club emphasized that President Joe Biden’s actions to designate Special Areas in the region are crucial, especially given that the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world.

“If enacted, these proposed protections would be another historic move towards long-term preservation of America’s Arctic,” said Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program. “The Arctic is at the frontline of climate change. President Biden is making it the frontline of climate action.”

The group highlighted that further protections would allow the NPR-A to store carbon and provide subsistence hunting and gathering areas for Alaska Natives, including the Iñupiat. Protections like those proposed on Friday are “vital for balancing the systematic disempowerment that’s happened in our region for decades,” said Nauri Simmonds of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic. Fossil fuel companies, with the approval of various administrations, have extracted oil and gas in the Arctic, impacting indigenous communities.

“In my Aaka’s (grandmother’s) lifetime, she witnessed the transition from living a traditional lifestyle to experiencing the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System being constructed and oil fields erected close enough to her traditional lands to be seen, heard, and led to evacuations for Nuiqsut (the most impacted village from oil and gas development on the north slope of Alaska) as recently as 2022,” Simmonds shared. “We welcome this most recent announcement and will continue to work towards building stronger communities in ways that lead to autonomy and self-determination on our traditional lands.”

During the 60-day comment period, the BLM plans to consult with Alaska Native tribes. Groups including Friends of the Earth (FOE) and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) expressed cautious optimism about the Biden administration’s plan to further protect the largest single unit of public lands in the U.S. from oil and gas exploration.

Raena Garcia, senior fossil fuel and lands campaigner at FOE, called the comment period “a great step toward conserving the Arctic’s ecological and cultural significance,” but warned that the proposed protections “should not stop at today’s announcement.” The Department of the Interior “must establish additional safeguards to prevent the irreversible environmental harm that oil and gas projects like [the Willow oil drilling project] pose to our climate and communities,” said Garcia.

Cooper Freeman, Alaska director at CBD, emphasized that the entire Western Arctic must “be protected from all oil drilling.” “Anything less is like shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic,” said Freeman. “If the federal government continues to allow oil drilling anywhere on the reserve, it’ll fuel the climate chaos devastating polar bear dens, migratory bird nesting wetlands, and caribou calving grounds in designated special areas. We’ll keep fighting to ensure there’s no new oil extraction on a single acre.”

The Biden administration’s search for feedback on potential new Arctic drilling protections underscores the importance of the NPR-A. With rapidly changing climate conditions, these Special Areas are increasingly critical to caribou movement and herd health, as well as other wildlife, migratory birds, and native plants. BLM Director Tracey Stone-Manning stated, “We want to hear from the public to ensure we are managing the western Arctic’s significant resource values in the right ways and right places.”

The move has garnered praise from environmental advocates. “If enacted, these proposed protections would be another historic move towards long-term preservation of America’s Arctic,” said Manuel. “From canceling oil and gas leases in the Arctic Refuge to boosting protections for 13 million acres in the Western Arctic, the Biden administration has made significant progress in safeguarding these landscapes and the communities and wildlife that rely on them.”

The announcement follows the April publication of a final rule on protections for over 13 million acres of already protected areas in the NPR-A. In late June, the administration also blocked approval for the controversial proposed Ambler Road, which would have led to a proposed mine in an area known for cobalt and copper deposits. Around the same time, the administration indicated it would not open up some 28 million acres of protected lands in the area to mining.

“Increasing protections for the Western Arctic is crucial for preserving our climate, wildlife, and the traditional ways of life for Indigenous communities,” said Simmonds. “We look forward to continued efforts to protect this vital region.”

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