March 20, 2018: President Trump’s unlawful attempt to revoke a permanent ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans is subject to judicial review, the federal district court in Anchorage ruled late on Monday. In April 2017, President Trump issued an executive order that threatened to open up more than 120 million acres in Arctic and Atlantic Oceans to oil and gas leasing—regions that President Obama had permanently protected given their rich biodiversity and vulnerability to oil and gas activities. Regions targeted by Trump’s order include 31 species-rich deepwater canyons in the Atlantic Ocean and waters home to imperiled wildlife such as polar bears, whales, and walruses in the Arctic Ocean.
In May, the Sierra Club and its allies—League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Alaska Wilderness League, Defenders of Wildlife, Northern Alaska Environmental Center, REDOIL, Center for Biological Diversity, Greenpeace, and The Wilderness Society, represented by Earthjustice and NRDC—sued President Trump over his decision. Monday’s favorable ruling marks a significant victory: the coalition defeated arguments by the Trump Administration and industry that Trump’s decision should not be subject to judicial review. With this hurdle crossed, the court will now consider the legality of Trump’s decision.