Three recent major news stories out of Alaska underscore how
determined the Trump Administration is to advance development projects that
will destroy our nation’s public lands and waters. The Administration’s rushed and overreaching efforts
in Alaska are now getting the press attention and legal review that they
deserve.
Most notably, the New
York Times published a blockbuster story last week exposing the results of the
only test well in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, drilled more than thirty
years ago. A closely kept secret for decades, the journalists found several players
with knowledge of the test well results who confirmed it was actually
“worthless.” This story will have a long-term impact on the fight to protect
the Refuge, calling into question years of promises and statements by Alaska
officials who may have known about these results, including Department of
Interior officials in the Trump Administration who have been pushing to open
the Refuge to drilling. Read more here.
In a U.S. District Court in late March, the court ruled that
the Trump Administration broke the law by approving the development of a road
through the heart of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. Conservation
advocates oppose this road because of the dangerous precedent it would set for
wildlife refuges across the nation. The court ruled that the Trump
Administration violated administrative law when they arbitrarily reversed
former Secretary Sally Jewell’s earlier, science-based decision to not allow
the road. Read more in the Anchorage Daily News here.
On the same day, a second District Court decision overruled
the Trump Administration’s efforts to open up oil drilling off the coasts of
the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.
President Trump signed an executive order that tried to lift protections
from 128 million acres of federal waters. However, the court found that
presidents have the power to put protections in place, but only Congress can
revoke the protections. Read more in the Washington Post here.
All three stories provide excellent examples of how
President Trump and the Department of the Interior are engaged in a breathless
effort to approve massive, landscape altering development projects as quickly
as possible.
David Hayes, former Deputy Secretary at Interior under
President Obama, authored an op-ed
in The Hill about how this dynamic is playing out in the Arctic Refuge.
He notes that in its rush to offer oil and gas leases in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, the Trump Administration is ignoring environmental safeguards
and wildlife regulations. Hayes writes:
Most notably, the New
York Times published a blockbuster story this week exposing the results of the
only test well in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, drilled more than thirty
years ago. A closely kept secret for decades, the journalists found several players
with knowledge of the test well results who confirmed it was actually
“worthless.” This story will have a long-term impact on the fight to protect
the Refuge, calling into question years of promises and statements by Alaska
officials who may have known about these results, including Department of
Interior officials in the Trump Administration who have been pushing to open
the Refuge to drilling. Read more here.
In a U.S. District Court last Friday, the court ruled that
the Trump Administration broke the law by approving the development a road
through the heart of the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. Conservation
advocates oppose this road because of the dangerous precedent it would set for
wildlife refuges across the nation. The
court ruled that the Trump Administration violated administrative law when they
arbitrarily reversed former Secretary Sally Jewell’s earlier, science-based
decision to not to allow the road. Read
more in the Anchorage Daily News here.
Also last Friday, a second District Court decision overruled
the Trump Administration’s efforts to open up oil drilling off the coasts of
the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.
President Trump signed an executive order that tried to lift protections
from 128 million acres of federal waters. However, the court found that
presidents have the power to put protections in place, but only Congress can
revoke the protections. Read more in the Washington Post here.
All three stories provide excellent examples of how
President Trump and the Department of the Interior are engaged in a breathless
effort to approve massive, landscape altering development projects as quickly
as possible.
David Hayes, former Deputy Secretary at Interior under
President Obama, authored an op-ed
in The Hill about how this dynamic is playing out in the Arctic Refuge.
He notes that in its rush to offer oil and gas leases in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, the Trump Administration is ignoring environmental safeguards
and wildlife regulations. Hayes writes:
In a thinly-veiled rush to auction off large blocks of the Arctic Refuge to the oil and gas industry before the next presidential election, however, Interior has made a political decision to issue leases first and address “on-the-ground” oil and gas development issues later. It does not want to miss the opportunity to privatize the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and turn it into a giant oil field while it can. Neither the tax law, nor the National Environmental Policy Act, allow this.
If the Trump Administration continues to rush forward with
its reckless process to offer leases in the Arctic Refuge, court challenges are
a certainty. The decisions handed down in the past week give us hope that the
judicial branch will continue to put a check on the Trump Administration’s race
to develop wild, irreplaceable places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Read more