Quick Take
The Trump administration recently announced new plans to advance its “drill, baby, drill” agenda in the U.S. Arctic by eliminating federal environmental protections in Alaska’s North Slope. According to Secretary of Interior Doug Burgum, these efforts are aimed at “restoring the balance and putting our energy future back on track.”
The millions of acres in question are found in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPRA), a vast expanse of wild rivers, wetlands, and alpine and tundra ecosystems. Half of the reserve is already open to development, but the Trump administration has proposed opening even more of the reserve to oil development - including sensitive areas that have been protected for wildlife for decades.
When Congress established the NPRA in 1923 to serve as a source of oil for the nation, it also recognized the area’s ecological importance and stipulated that wildlife and habitats should be protected. For years, federal land management agencies, the conservation community, and the oil industry have worked together to strike a balance between ecological protection and industrial development.
Today, the reserve encompasses one of the largest tracts of intact wilderness in the United States, supporting important Arctic wildlife populations. It is inhabited by two caribou herds, grizzly bears, wolves, and millions of birds that migrate from every continent to nest. Several years ago, while on a backcountry paddling trip on the Colville River, designated as one of the reserve’s Special Areas because of its tremendous wildlife values, I had the privilege of viewing countless peregrine falcons nesting in the towering cliffs along the river. As wilderness disappears across the planet, such large areas of unfragmented lands and pristine waters become all the more precious. Additionally, in the face of climate change, providing adequate habitat for wildlife is essential to ensuring their resilience.
Secretary Burgum’s rhetoric suggests that the Biden administration prevented the country from tapping the oil and gas resources in the reserve. In fact, President Biden greenlighted a massive new oil development project proposed by Conoco Phillips, known as the Willow Project, which is now underway, adding a spiderweb of pipelines, roads, and other infrastructure to the landscape. Still, key areas were recognized as too special to disturb and were granted ongoing protection.
The Trump administration’s hasty push for development will not only harm the many wildlife species whose habitat is shrinking, it will also burden generations of Americans and global citizens by exacerbating global climate change. Science tells us that reducing fossil fuel production and use is imperative if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The decision to expand oil development – under both the Trump and Biden administrations – may lead to short-term financial gains for oil companies, but ordinary people will suffer the consequences in the form of extreme weather events, worsening air quality, and other climate catastrophes. Finally, removing the protections from the reserve’s special areas will rob Americans of unique and spectacular natural heritage for perpetuity.