Alaska Wilderness League Statement on Interior’s Reckless Giveaway of Alaska to Big Oil
Alaska Wilderness League Statement on Interior’s Reckless Giveaway of Alaska to Big Oil
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 3/20/2025
Contact: Andy Moderow | Andy@alaskawild.org | 907-360-3622
Washington, D.C. – Today, the Department of the Interior announced plans to vastly expand oil and gas drilling across Alaska’s public lands, revoking protections in the name of President Trump’s "Energy Dominance" agenda and prioritizing corporate polluters over Indigenous rights, public input, and environmental stewardship.
Under the leadership of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the Bureau of Land Management aims to open up as much as 82% of the Western Arctic’s National Petroleum Reserve to leasing, reinstate an Arctic Refuge leasing program that was previously scrapped, and revoke protections along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Corridor to pave the way for industrial megaprojects like Ambler Road and the Alaska LNG Pipeline.
This announcement follows President Trump’s Day-one Executive Orders targeting public lands and environmental protections in Alaska, as well as Secretary Burgum's subsequent Secretarial Orders aimed at expanding fossil fuel extraction on public lands.
In response to President Trump’s Day-One executive orders, Andy Moderow, Senior Director of Policy at Alaska Wilderness League, criticized the administration’s push to reverse public land protections. At the time, he stated:
“President Trump’s inaugural address and first-day actions make it clear: he’s fixated on dragging our nation’s energy and public land policy backwards. These actions ignore what the free market has declared: there is no industry interest in Arctic Refuge oil extraction. Across Alaska, these are reckless and misguided attempts to industrialize Alaska’s lands and waters—a slap in the face to science, the American public, and Indigenous communities who seek land protections. We’re evaluating each Executive Order, and we are ready to fight off attacks, in Congress and the courtroom, each and every day to protect wild Alaska.”
Time and time again, the American people have shown there is no economic or industry justification for expanding drilling across Alaska’s public lands. Past lease sales in the Arctic Refuge have failed to attract serious bidders, with major oil companies walking away. Leading financial institutions have refused to fund Arctic drilling, and economic analyses continue to show that these projects are not commercially viable. Yet, despite clear market signals and overwhelming public opposition, the administration is doubling down on a failed fossil fuel agenda—at the expense of Alaska’s lands, waters, and communities.
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