Alaska is in the crossroads of politics and environmental lawyers yet again! The government has wanted to open up drilling of more than a million acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, facing serious legal hurdles.
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The Interior Department finalized plans to move forward with allowing drilling in the Alaskan wilderness. Consequences could be serious for polar bears, caribou, birds, and other species that live in coastal areas. Environmental lawyers argue that the government purposefully ignored key demands and restrictions set by Congress for oil exploration in 2017.
Congress passed a law that said hold lease sales in the coastal plain. Close to 1.6 million acres will be opened for drilling, only a small portion of the refuge’s 19.3 million acres. Congress’s specified for two lease sales, at a minimum of 400,000 acres each.
What environmentalists are more worried about is a lack of concern on how oil development will affect local and regional wildlife. Oil exploration will involve shooting powerful waves beneath the surface to map where oil lies, which can be comparable to fracking. “It fails to adequately analyze the effects to polar bears both on the impact of an oil spill on a species and the impact of seismic activity on a species which could crush dens and kill polar bears and their cubs,” said Kristen Monsell, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity.
State Representative Jared Huffman of California led a 2019 House bill banning arctic drilling that later stalled in the Senate. “Through the work of political insiders and well-connected special interests, officials have overruled science,” Huffman said. Environmental lawyers argue that the agency’s analysis does not meet the requirements set forth by the Endangered Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act.
The 2017 tax law required consideration of “leasing, development, production, and transportation”. Senator Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, added the Interior’s decision was part of a methodical approach.” “Suggestions that the decision does not reflect the law, or that it is somehow the end of the approval process before development, is simply inaccurate,” Murkowski said.
For more stories from Haute Lawyer, visit https://hauteliving.com/hautelawyer/
Source: https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/512527-green-groups-see-legal-flaws-trump-arctic-refuge-drilling-plan
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