Biden administration restricts oil and gas leasing in Alaska
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Biden administration said Friday it will restrict new oil and gas leasing on 13 million acres (5.3 million hectares) of a federal petroleum reserve in Alaska to help protect wildlife such as caribou and polar bears as the Arctic continues to warm.
The decision — part of a yearslong fight over whether and how to develop the vast oil resources in the state — finalizes protections first proposed last year as the Democratic administration prepared to approve the contentious Willow oil project.
The approval of Willow drew fury from environmentalists, who said the large oil project violated President Joe Biden’s pledge to combat climate change. Friday’s decision also completes an earlier plan that called for closing nearly half the reserve to oil and gas leasing.
A group of Republican lawmakers, led by Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, jumped out ahead of Friday’s announcement about drilling limitations in the National Petroleum-Reserve Alaska before it was publicly announced. Sullivan called it an “illegal” attack on the state’s economic lifeblood, and he predicted lawsuits.
Related articles
Kristin Cavallari, 37, ignores critics of her age
Kristin Cavallari is enjoying a romantic rendezvous with her much younger cowboy lover Mark Estes in2024-05-21I'm a forensic researcher who studies rapists
The way you walk could make you a target for potential predators, a forensic expert has warned.Alex,2024-05-21- A Kentucky fisherman has reeled in an enormous 200-pound prehistoric alligator snapping turtle and a2024-05-21
Why taxpayers shouldn't have to fork out for entitled millennials' lavish weddings
How lovely it is to go to a wedding when you’ve known the bride or groom since they were babies.Sinc2024-05-21Everybody may love Raymond, but Ray Romano loves Peter Boyle
NEW YORK (AP) — “Baffling” is how Ray Romano calls the continued success of “Everybody Loves Raymond2024-05-21Dutch artist Joost Klein expelled from Eurovision, likely to face charges, Swedish police say
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Netherlands’ contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest who was dramat2024-05-21
atest comment