Washington, D.C. — Today, the Trump administration announced immediate steps to open significant swaths of public lands in Alaska to development. This includes opening the vast majority of the Western Arctic to oil and gas development; opening all of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s sensitive Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing; and eliminating land protections to move forward the proposed Ambler Road and the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas Pipeline. In response, Jenny Rowland-Shea, director of public lands at American Progress issued the following statement:
These actions threaten tens of millions of acres of America’s most sensitive lands in some of the country’s last untouched places, all to appease oil industry donors. Dangerous oil drilling should have no place in the Arctic Refuge or any other lands targeted today—areas that are rich with wildlife and sacred to Indigenous communities. Selling out America’s national treasures is a reckless path that will irreparably damage our lands, waters, and wildlife.
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For more information, or to speak with an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected].