Biden Admin Suspends Oil and Gas Leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Upper Sheenjek Valley of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, on Aug. 30, 1999. Steven Chase/USFWS/ Getty Images

The Biden administration suspended oil and gas drilling leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on June 1, ahead of the outcome of an environmental impact review, reversing a policy that former President Donald Trump had initiated shortly before leaving office.

President Joe Biden, on his first day in office in January, placed a temporary ban on the wildlife refuge’s new leases. But on June 1, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland issued a memo (pdf) saying that activities in the region must halt pending an analysis.