The Bureau of Land Management is required to auction off opportunities to drill in the Alaska wildlife refuge by the end of this year under 2017’s Tax Cuts and Job Act.
Many Democrats have opposed drilling for oil there, and the Biden administration now says it will auction off only the minimum 400,000 acres required under the law.
The rights to drill in the refuge will be auctioned off on Jan. 9 — just 11 days before President-elect Trump takes office.
The lease sale will be the second one required by the law. The Trump administration carried out the first in 2021, though, ultimately, there was very little interest in the lease sale and only a few tracts received bids.
The few drilling leases that were issued at the time were later suspended by the Biden administration, which cited “multiple legal deficiencies.”
In its new decision the Biden administration also said it is limiting the sale to the places with the highest potential for oil and gas discovery.
It additionally does not offer up drilling in polar bear denning and migratory bird nesting areas — and seeks to protect other species such as caribou.
Read more at TheHill.com.
