Sacrifice of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Update: The sale of oil leases in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge was a failure according to most accounts. The total high bids was only $14 million for eleven tracts of land covering 600,000 acres of the Refuge. “This lease sale was an epic failure for the Trump administration and the Alaska congressional delegation,” said Adam Kolton, executive director of the Alaska Wilderness League. “After years of promising a revenue and jobs bonanza they ended up throwing a party for themselves, with the state being one of the only bidders.” Pro-extraction forces argued the sale could bring $900 million with half going to Alaska. The state's own development corporation, in the absence of competitive bidders, spent $12 million. Big oil steered clear of the sale, knowing the immense public opposition to development of the Refuge, the current glut of oil on the market, and the high costs of drilling in the far north. Only two smaller companies placed bids. The incoming Biden Administration now faces the task of invalidating the leases obtained by the state of Alaska and the two private bidders.

{5.01.21}The deranged occupant of the VWH executed a last FU to environmentalists by holding an ANWR oil lease auction on Wednesday, the same day the Electoral College determines he is a former occupant. Advocates for protecting one of the last pristine wildernesses in the United States can only hope that the current glut of oil and low prices will discourage oil companies from bidding on the offered leases. Fracking has made the US a net exporter of oil and gas. But the industry has pushed for the exploitation of the reserve since it was created by Dwight Eisenhower in 1960s. Oil executives see red when they see wilderness roped off from their rentless exploitation as they struggle for ever greater profit.

Home to polar bears and caribou, the native people, the Gwich’in, have fought to protect ANWR and its wildlife. With their conservation allies, they were successful for decades, but a succession of pro-industry regimes in Washington was the undoing of the lock against exploitation and inevitable degradation of the Arctic Plain habitat.[photo: UK Guardian] Biologists think oil and gas development will result in displacement of wildlife. A former state biologist said, “It’s the core of the Porcupine caribou herd calving area. It’s the major onshore denning place for polar bears in the Beaufort Sea, which is becoming more and more important as the sea ice disappears.” Invalidating any leases obtained by oil companies or the state will be problematic for the incoming Biden administration, if they even attempt to take action to undo the damage done. Two former governors of Alaska encouraged the state to bid for unwanted tracts. A state owned development corporation responded to their call by authorizing up to $20 million in bids.

In another significant eleventh-hour blow to conservation, the regime announced it will promulgate rule changes under the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act on Thursday that will allow resource companies and landowners to excape penalties for unintentiional killings of protected birds. The regime claimed the new rules are a return to the original intent of the Act. The MBTA played a significant role in assessing liabiity against British Petroleum for the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The company plead guilty to violating the Act and paid $100 million for habitat restoration as part of the settlement with the government. The Fish and Wildlife Service's own impact assessment of the rule change stated, "Fewer entities would likely implement best practices...resulting in increased bird mortality," Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said it would seek court relief from the "reckless attack on one of America's oldest and most important conservation laws." Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md) issued a statement saying he would work with the Biden administration to swiftly reverse relaxation of penalties under the MBTA.