Dhe administration of US President Joe Biden has announced a ban on new oil and gas drilling in large parts of the US state of Alaska. The ban announced on Wednesday (local time) affects an area of 4.3 million hectares of land – an area the size of Denmark – and around 40 percent of the federal National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPRA). The region is an important habitat for polar and grizzly bears, caribou and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds.
“Alaska is home to many of America’s most breathtaking natural wonders and culturally significant areas,” the US President said in a statement. “As the climate crisis warms the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of the world, we have a responsibility to protect this precious region (…),” he added.
The announcement followed the highly controversial permitting of the so-called Willow project in the region. Despite strong criticism from environmentalists, in March the US Department of the Interior gave the energy company ConocoPhillips the green light to drill for oil at three locations in the NPRA. According to observers, the new ban could also aim to defuse the massive criticism of the Willow project.
The government’s new plan also restricts, but does not ban, drilling in additional large areas of Alaska and bans drilling in 2.8 million hectares in the Beaufort Sea.
The two Republican state senators criticized the White House decision, saying Biden would undermine US energy security.
Meanwhile, the US Department of the Interior said it was also terminating seven oil and gas leases east of the NPRA that had been approved under former President Donald Trump.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, US President Biden vowed not to allow any new oil and gas exploration on federally owned land during his second term. However, Alaskan lawmakers and other supporters of the Willow project had been pushing for government approval. The billion-euro project will bring thousands of jobs and contribute to the energy independence of the United States, it was said in the justification.
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