Ranking Member Huffman on Arctic Refuge Lease Sale: “It’s a Flop”
WASHINGTON – U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) today released the following statement on the statutorily mandated oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which received no bids. The deadline to submit bids was Monday, Jan. 6.
“The numbers speak for themselves — it’s a flop,” said Ranking Member Huffman. “I hope we can let this be the final say that no one, not even industry, thinks drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a good idea. The Arctic Refuge is one of the most ecologically significant and fragile landscapes in the world, Alaska Natives depend on it, and it’s being threatened by climate change at an increasingly alarming rate. The first Trump administration showed us that the President-elect has no interest in listening to the widespread public opposition to drilling in the Arctic. I hope President-elect Trump will at least listen to his Big Oil billionaire friends and finally understand that some places, like the Arctic Refuge, simply shouldn’t be up for industry grabs.”
BACKGROUND
Republicans’ 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act mandated two lease sales in ANWR, which the Trump administration estimated would bring in $1.8 billion in revenue over ten years. The first lease sale was held in January 2021 and received bids for only half of the leases, just two of which were from oil and gas companies and were later refunded. In total, that lease sale garnered less than $15 million — not even 1% of the estimated revenue. The second lease sale received no bids and will generate no revenue.
The ecological importance of the Arctic Refuge cannot be overstated; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has described it as "the only conservation system that protects, in an undisturbed condition, a complete spectrum of the Arctic ecosystems in North America." Many Alaska Native communities, including the Gwich'in people, one of the most northern Indigenous peoples in North America, rely on the area’s natural resources for subsistence and traditional ways of life. Oil and gas development in this region threatens to further devastate the landscape and iconic wildlife, like grizzlies, caribou, and polar bears, and produce more climate-causing pollution.
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