The Trump administration has reopened Alaska’s entire Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas leasing, overturning a Biden-era decision that had placed the remote wilderness off
limits to energy development.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced Thursday that the department will allow leasing across 1.56 million acres of tundra on Alaska’s North Slope. The move fulfills President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to expand domestic fossil fuel production and resume leasing in the region.
“This land should and will be supporting responsible oil and gas leasing,” Burgum said during remarks at the Interior Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The Arctic refuge’s coastal plain is believed to contain billions of barrels of crude oil. However, many energy companies have hesitated to pursue drilling there due to high costs and environmental concerns. Conservation groups and Indigenous communities warn that oil development could threaten wildlife such as arctic foxes, polar bears, and caribou.
“Drilling in the Arctic Refuge is reckless,” said Bobby McEnaney, a director with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The market has said no — banks and insurers won’t back it, lease sales have failed, and taxpayers are left holding the bag. Public lands must serve people, wildlife, and a livable climate — not become a fire sale for fossil fuel companies.”
Congress lifted a four-decade ban on energy development in the refuge in 2017 during Trump’s first term, requiring federal lease sales. President Joe Biden later suspended those sales, canceled leases issued in 2021, and restricted new drilling across more than half of the nearby National Petroleum Reserve.
The decision marks a major policy reversal — and renews a long-running debate over the balance between energy independence and environmental protection in one of America’s most ecologically sensitive regions. Photo by Gillfoto, Wikimedia commons.
