STATEMENT: Trump Administration Moves Ahead with Rushed Plan to Sell Out Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that it will begin the regulatory process to lease land to oil and gas drillers on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In response, Matt Lee-Ashley, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:
The Trump administration’s headlong rush to drill America’s last great wilderness is reckless and wrong. By putting the fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the hands of former oil industry lobbyist David Bernhardt, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has made clear that this rushed environmental review process will be nothing more than a kangaroo court. The administration’s shortcuts to sell out the Arctic Refuge are legally risky and are sure to add another stain to Zinke’s shameful anti-conservation record.
A CAP analysis finds that offering oil and gas leases in the Arctic Refuge is likely to yield no more than $37.5 million in revenue for the U.S. Treasury over the next 10 years—far short of the $1 billion to $1.8 billion that drilling proponents claim could be raised.
Additional resources:
- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge 101: Protecting America’s Last Great Wilderness from Being Sold Out for a Congressional Tax Scam by Matt Lee-Ashley and Jenny Rowland
- Measuring the Loss of American Wildlife if the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Is Drilled by Jenny Rowland
- The Energy Case Against Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by Matt Lee-Ashley
- Not Even the Oil and Gas Industry Is Buying What the Trump Administration Is Selling by Mary Ellen Kustin
For more information on this topic or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at shananel@americanprogress.org or 202.478.6327.