Sierra Club Statement on Release of Final Arctic Refuge Record of Decision

Today, the Department of Interior released the final record of decision revising the program for oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Refuge established under Donald Trump. It concludes a process that developed a supplemental environmental impact statement to evaluate options for strengthening measures to prevent negative effects from oil and gas drilling on subsistence for local communities and on porcupine caribou and polar bears.

This supplemental analysis was needed to address fundamental flaws and legal errors in an earlier environmental impact statement completed by the Trump administration. The new analysis makes it clear that the Arctic Refuge remains under threat from oil and gas drilling, and that any oil and gas program will have harmful effects on the coastal plain.

A 2021 lease sale, also conducted by the Trump administration, failed to garner significant interest, generating less than 1% of revenue promised by the 2017 Tax Act. The just-released decision includes a Notice of Sale for an oil and gas lease sale for 400,000 acres in the northwest portion of the Coastal Plain on January 9, 2025.

The Gwich’in Steering Committee and citizens across the country have urged the Biden Administration to issue a strong record of decision before leaving office

In response, Dan Ritzman, director of Sierra Club’s Conservation Campaign, released the following statement:

“Oil and gas development in the Arctic Refuge is a direct threat to some of the last untouched landscapes on Alaska’s North Slope and to the caribou herds that the Gwich’in people rely on. The 2017 Tax Act, forced through Congress by Donald Trump and his Big Oil CEO allies, opened up the Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing. Letting him oversee a lease sale over these pristine lands would be beyond irresponsible. In the meantime, President Biden should listen to the Gwich’in and do all that he can to preserve these lands and waters. His legacy is on the line.”