A new environmental analysis could impose additional restrictions on development in the refuge or potentially nullify the leases altogether.
The Biden administration is moving to suspend all oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge pending a deeper look at the environmental impacts of drilling in the sensitive region, according to a person with direct knowledge of the decision. The suspension of the leases follows President Joe Biden’s January 20 executive order that identified “alleged legal deficiencies” in the original leasing program and put in place a temporary moratorium on any oil- and gas-related activities in the refuge. The executive order also left open the possibility that the department would undertake a new environmental review to address potential legal flaws in the program. A new environmental analysis could impose additional restrictions on development in the refuge or potentially nullify the leases altogether, undoing one of the signature policy achievements of the Trump administration. But it would not go as far as green groups have requested in an ongoing lawsuit, which aims to void the leases that were awarded earlier this year.
