Grijalva Cheers Biden Administration Action to Stand with Alaska Native Communities and Protect Arctic Wilderness, Reject Harmful Ambler Road
WASHINGTON – House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of the Interior’s final rule to protect more than 13 million acres from oil and gas drilling in the western Arctic, as well as its decision to select the “no action” alternative in its final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Ambler Road. Ambler Road is a proposed industrial mining road that would have been constructed through 211 miles of the Brooks Range and Gates of the Arctic National Preserve.
“With today’s actions, President Biden and Secretary Haaland are making clear that they have listened to the many Alaska Native communities who want to see the Arctic and their traditional way of life protected,” Ranking Member Grijalva said. “The people, wildlife, and sustainability of the Arctic are already suffering disproportionately from the impacts of the climate crisis. We need a bold transformation towards cleaner, more just energy production, not the status quo. Allowing Big Oil and other polluters to drill, mine, and otherwise make a mess in an area as sensitive and critical as this never has been and never will be a sensical option.
“The Ambler Road mining project in particular would have bulldozed thousands of streams and acres of wetlands, drastically disrupting the fragile ecology of the Brooks Range and putting the cultural and subsistence resources for multiple Alaska Native tribes under serious threat. The Biden administration’s decision to listen to Alaska Natives and acknowledge the ecological importance of the Brooks Range by rejecting the Ambler Road is worthy of not just celebration, but emulation as well.”
Additional Background
Many Alaska Native communities voiced strong opposition to the proposed Ambler Road, with 89 tribes and First Nations passing or signing onto resolutions against it. Ranking Member Grijalva has been an ardent supporter of the need for stronger, more consistent tribal consultation standards. Consultation for domestic mining projects is especially critical, given that the vast majority of certain high-demand minerals, including copper, are located on or within 35 miles of tribal lands. The Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act, introduced last May by Ranking Member Grijalva in the House and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) in the Senate, would set requirements for meaningful tribal consultation prior to permitting mining activities.
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