When the Trump administration announced its plan to open the coastal plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas drilling in 2025, officials claimed the lease sale would be a boon for American energy dominance. Unfortunately for them, the bid did not live up to the hype. The oil lease sale on Friday raised just $3.7 million, resulting in five leases between two small Alaskan companies, according to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). That’s less than the price of some Manhattan penthouses. While previous, successful lease sales in other BLM-managed areas of Alaska, New Mexico, and Texas suggested the oil industry remained interested in drilling on public lands, Big Oil snubbed this sale. Environmental organizations and some Democratic lawmakers celebrated the blow to the Trump administration’s fossil-fuel-focused “Unleash American Energy” agenda. Still, they warned that the new leasing threatens to destroy globally significant wildlife habitat.
Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization, is suing to challenge the Interior Department’s 2025 decision to maximize oil and gas leasing in the Refuge’s coastal plain. “The leasing program breaks numerous federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act and the National Wildlife Refuge Act,” a June 5 statement reads.
