Liz Doherty, liz.doherty@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC -- Today, just two weeks before leaving office, the Trump administration held the first-ever lease sale to sell off the delicate coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas drilling. The sale attracted a tepid response from bidders, bringing in only $14.4 million in revenue. When Congressional Republicans pushed through a rider opening the Arctic Refuge for drilling as part of the 2017 tax bill, they claimed that two lease sales in the Refuge would generate $1 billion of revenue
The coastal plain has been protected from drilling for decades because of its significance to Indigenous peoples in Alaska, unique ecosystem, and treasured landscape. In their rushed review process for drilling in the coastal plain, the administration has ignored the human rights of these communities that depend on the land and wildlife in the Arctic Refuge for their food security and way of life, as well as the impacts on wildlife like caribou and threatened polar bears and on the climate.
The companies that bid today will face an uphill battle to take advantage of leases in the coastal plain. More than two dozen banks worldwide, including every major American bank, have ruled out funding for new drilling in the Arctic, this leasing program is currently being challenged in court, and President-Elect Joe Biden has pledged to protect the Arctic Refuge from drilling.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
“Donald Trump is closing out his final days in office just as he spent the last four years: selling our communities and public lands to his corporate friends. The American people have decidedly rejected Trump, and the companies that participated in today’s sale will forever be shamed as accomplices to Trump’s disastrous land grab. Drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic Refuge would do irreversible harm to the hardworking communities that depend on it. President-Elect Biden must act immediately to reverse the damage done by this nefarious administration and enact permanent protections for the Arctic Refuge.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.