Politics
Biden Suspends Trump’s 11th-Hour Oil Leases in Arctic Refuge
- Arctic oil leases were sold two weeks before Trump left office
- Interior Department to conduct fresh environmental analysis
Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Getty Images
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The Biden administration is suspending Arctic refuge drilling rights that were sold in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency, dealing a victory to environmentalists who have argued for decades against oil development in the remote, wild region of Alaska.
Under an Interior Department order issued Tuesday, the agency is temporarily halting action on nine leases spanning more than 400,000 acres (161,870 hectares) of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, while it conducts a fresh environmental analysis of the program.