Biden signals plans to halt oil activity in Arctic refuge

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday signaled plans to place a temporary moratorium on oil and gas lease activities in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge after Trump ministration issued leases in a remote, rugged area considered sacred by Indigeus Gwich'in.

plans, along with or proposed executive actions, were anunced on a fact sheet by new ministration on Biden’s inauguration day.

Issuing leases h been a priority of Trump ministration following a 2017 law calling for lease sales, said Lesli Ellis-Wouters, a spokesperson for U.S. Bureau of Land Manment in Alaska.

ncy held first lease sale for refuge's coastal plain on Jan. 6. Eight days later, Ellis-Wouters said, it signed leases for nine tracts totaling nearly 685 square miles (1,770 square kilometers). However, issuance of leases was t anunced publicly until Tuesday, President Donald Trump's last full day in office.

Ellis-Wouters said in an email Wednesday morning that ncy h t yet received official guidance on any presidential orders.

E. Colleen Bryan, a spokesperson for Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, said state corporation, which was issued seven leases and was main bidder in lease sale, “can’t speculate what may happen with new ministration.”

Biden has opposed drilling in region and new ministration anunced plans for an executive order that would temporarily halt lease activities re. Drilling opponents hope it is a step toward providing permanent protections, which Biden called for during presidential campaign. Details of his plans weren't immediately available.

fight to open coastal plain to drilling goes back deces, with state’s Republican congressional delegation hailing issuance of leases as “significant and meaningful for Alaska's future.”

Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan said in a statement that Americans did t give Biden “a mandate to kill good-paying jobs and curry favor with coastal elites.”

Sullivan ded that he “will do everything in my power ... to fight back against se job-killing orders and regulatory reviews.”

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, said state “does responsible oil and gas development in Arctic better than anyone, and yet our ecomic future is at risk should this line of attack on our sovereignty and well-being continue.”

Oil has long been ecomic lifeblood of Alaska, and drilling supporters have viewed development as a way to boost oil production that is a fraction of what it was in late 1980s, and generate revenue and create or sustain jobs.

Drilling critics have said area off Beaufort Sea provides habitat for wildlife including caribou, polar bears, wolves and birds — and should be off limits to drilling. Gwich'in have raised concerns about impacts on a caribou herd on which y have relied for subsistence.

"It is so important that our young people see that we are heard, and that President ackwledges our voices, our human rights and our identity," Bernette Demientieff, executive director of Gwich’in Steering Committee, said in a statement. "We kw re’s so much work ahe, and are thankful that president will take early action to help protect se lands forever.”

Im: Associated Press