A federal judge in Alaska has ruled that President Joe Biden’s administration acted unlawfully when it canceled oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The ruling, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason on Tuesday, sided with a state-owned economic development corporation in Alaska, finding that the U.S. Department of the Interior needed court approval to revoke the leases.
The decision strengthens efforts to reopen the 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of ANWR for energy development. Former President Donald Trump, a Republican, has pushed to reinstate the leases and, on his first day back in office, signed an executive order to overturn Biden’s cancellation.
In the final days of Trump’s first term, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority secured 10-year leases for seven tracts of land covering 365,775 acres. However, Biden, who pledged to protect the refuge from drilling, canceled these leases in September 2023. The administration argued that drilling posed risks to the 19-million-acre sanctuary, home to polar bears and Porcupine caribou.
The Alaska authority sued in October 2023, claiming Biden’s decision violated a congressional mandate established in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which opened ANWR for drilling. Judge Gleason, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, ruled that the Interior Department had failed to follow the required legal process before revoking the leases.
With the case now sent back to the Interior Department, which is under Trump’s administration, officials have pledged swift action. “The Department of the Interior is moving quickly to reinstate the wrongfully terminated leases, consistent with President Trump’s order to unleash Alaska’s energy resources and further ensure American energy dominance,” a department spokesperson said.
Alaska’s Republican-led government had supported the lawsuit. Cori Mills, the state’s deputy attorney general, praised the ruling. “This is definitely a victory,” she said. “The state looks forward to working with the current federal administration to unlock ANWR’s economic potential and strengthen U.S. energy independence.”
The Alaska authority’s legal team has not yet commented on the decision.
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