There's no way to drill here without harming wildlife, and it's not worth it for just a little bit of oil.

After decades of fierce debate over oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, oil companies largely appear leery of the idea. The contested swath of federal land, on Alaska’s Beaufort Sea coast, is politically fraught and far from existing roads and pipelines. And given the limited data on its geology, oil executives still aren’t sure how much petroleum is trapped underground. In spite of three federal lease sales of refuge land in the past decade — with the most recent sale just last month — not a single major oil company has bid. Instead, the industry is flooding into a different federal area far to the west, the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska, where there are proven oil deposits and fewer political obstacles to development. But the decades-long quest to find oil in the Arctic refuge isn’t over. The largest oil and gas exploration program in the area’s history could soon begin — funded not by companies like ConocoPhillips or ExxonMobil but by an arm of the state of Alaska. Alaska’s economic development corporation, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, known as AIDEA, is launching its own, up-to-$175-million plan to search for fossil fuels beneath the refuge’s coastal plain, a...

Indigenous land protector, fashion model and filmmaker Quannah ChasingHorse used her platform at the seventh annual Hollywood Climate Summit to sound the alarm over proposed oil and gas lease sales in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, calling for immediate action to protect sacred lands and support Indigenous communities leading the fight against climate change. The summit, held June 3 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater, brought together entertainment and media professionals, storytellers, executives, artists, scientists and advocates to explore how storytelling can shape public understanding of the climate crisis. During the inaugural Hollywood Climate Summit Leadership Recognition Ceremony, ChasingHorse received the Amplifier Award and used her acceptance remarks to focus attention on the Arctic Refuge and the communities that call it home. “We talk and we talk and we talk, but right now is the time for action,” ChasingHorse said. “It’s not just my people that are being directly impacted — it’s everybody, because everybody’s future is at stake.” Her comments highlighted concerns over upcoming lease sales on lands considered sacred by Indigenous peoples in Alaska and underscored the role Native communities play on the front lines of climate advocacy and environmental stewardship. ChasingHorse...

AIDEA, the State of Alaska’s economic development corporation, will bid $190 million of state taxpayer money in tomorrow’s federal auction. The oil majors won’t bid. The banks won’t finance. Alaska is

The Bureau of Land Management today opened nine bids on five tracts regarding an oil and gas lease sale on the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is sacred lands to the Gwich’in people and breeding grounds for millions of migratory birds, polar bears and the Porcupine caribou herd, whose harvest the Gwich’in rely on for survival. Defenders of Wildlife and the American public called on corporations to keep development out of the Arctic Refuge; and that call was heard. No major oil company showed up to bid. However, the state-owned Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority did show up for the sale. They were one of two successful bidders, including Hex Energy LLC. The winning bids totaled $3,741,528. Half of this amount goes to the State of Alaska, leaving $1,870,764 for the federal treasury - a small fraction of what was projected. “This administration is brutally sacrificing eons-old habitat for mother polar bears and cubs, calving grounds for caribou and nesting habitat for millions of migratory birds all in the name of oil and gas gains that may never be realized,” said Nicole Whittington-Evans, Defenders of Wildlife’s senior director of Alaska and Northwest programs. “Major oil...

The Trump administration opened 689,000 acres of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas bidders on 5 June, pushing ahead with one of the most contested energy proposals in American history. The auction covers a remote and pristine habitat for species including polar bears, caribou, and migratory birds. It represents the latest test of industry appetite for drilling in northern Alaska — a high-risk endeavour involving decades of work and billions of dollars of investment. The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an arm of the Department of the Interior, put 60 tracts up for auction. Companies were required to submit bids by 3 June, with results to be opened and read via a livestream at 10:00 am local time. Trump Signs Four-Sale Mandate Into Law The sale is the first of four in ANWR mandated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Donald Trump signed into law last year, aligned with his push to boost domestic energy development and backed by Alaska state officials and some native groups who want to open up drilling in ANWR to create jobs and reverse the state's declining oil production. Nagruk Harcharek, CEO of Voice of the Arctic...

2,717 likes, 99 comments - usmcangryveteran on June 2, 2026: "Trump loves billionaires and hates the land! #standwiththearctic #protectthearctic #protectpubliclands #arcticrefuge".

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1,327 likes, 57 comments - usmcangryveteran on June 2, 2026: "Trump loves billionaires and hates the land! #standwiththearctic #protectthearctic #protectpubliclands #arcticrefuge".

Alaska’s industrial development agency this week is set to vote on spending $190 million on controversial plans for oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The budget, drafted by staff and still pending approval by the agency’s governor-appointed board, includes up to $175 million for advanced geologic testing, plus as much as $15 million to bid on new areas of the refuge in an upcoming federal lease sale. If approved, the plans from the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, could represent a major step toward development in the refuge. They could also represent a massive expenditure, as $190 million exceeds the yearly general fund budgets of more than half of Alaska’s executive branch agencies. The refuge occupies the state’s northeast corner, east of existing oil infrastructure, and its future has been the subject of a fierce, decades-long national debate. No oil is produced there now, and just one community sits within it, the Iñupiaq village of Kaktovik. AIDEA’s proposed spending is outlined in a resolution that the authority’s board is set to discuss at a meeting Wednesday. The state published a notice about the meeting on Sunday. The geologic work, known as seismic testing, involves searching...

The regime wants to tear apart our beautiful natural spaces to drill, log, and more, detroying fragile ecosystems and cultural heritage sites. Meanwhile African elephants are also severely endangered.

Indigenous leaders joined with climate and wildlife defenders on Friday to blast President Donald Trump’s administration and Republicans in Congress over the newly announced fossil fuel lease sale for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s Coastal Plain in Alaska. The US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management revealed Friday that it will hold the first of four legally mandated lease sales on June 5. The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act—which congressional Republicans passed and Trump signed last summer—requires BLM to hold the other three sales by 2035. ANWR’s Coastal Plain spans over 1.5 million acres and is known for its biodiversity. As a BLM webpage details, it is also believed to contain 4.25-11.8 billion barrels of “technically recoverable oil,” according to US Geological Survey estimates. Trump returned to the White House last year backed by Big Oil’s campaign cash, and his deputy interior secretary, Kate MacGregor, said Friday that “after three acts of Congress and several successful lawsuits making it abundantly clear that oil and gas leasing in this area of Alaska is lawful, it is a great honor to once again announce another Coastal Plain lease sale.” MacGregor framed the forthcoming sale as just one piece of...

Indigenous leaders joined with climate and wildlife defenders on Friday to blast President Donald Trump's administration and Republicans in Congress over the newly announced fossil fuel lease sale for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's Coastal Plain in Alaska. The US Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management revealed Friday that it will hold the first of four legally mandated lease sales on June 5. The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act—which congressional Republicans passed and Trump signed last summer—requires BLM to hold the other three sales by 2035. ANWR's Coastal Plain spans over 1.5 million acres and is known for its biodiversity. As a BLM webpage details, it is also believed to contain 4.25-11.8 billion barrels of "technically recoverable oil," according to US Geological Survey estimates. Trump returned to the White House last year backed by Big Oil's campaign cash, and his deputy interior secretary, Kate MacGregor, said Friday that "after three acts of Congress and several successful lawsuits making it abundantly clear that oil and gas leasing in this area of Alaska is lawful, it is a great honor to once again announce another Coastal Plain lease sale." MacGregor framed the forthcoming sale as just one piece of...

Contact: Andy Moderow | 907-360-3622 | andy@alaskawild.org Trump Administration Moves Forward with Arctic Refuge Lease Sale, Ignoring Public Opposition and Threatening Indigenous Communities Washington, D.C. — Today, the Trump administration announced plans to hold a new oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, advancing efforts to industrialize one of the nation’s most iconic and ecologically significant landscapes. The coastal plain of the Refuge is often called the biological heart of the Arctic Refuge. On top of critical polar bear habitat, it is the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd, which the Gwich’in people rely on for their culture, food security, and way of life. Despite this, and despite consistent polling showing that a strong majority of Americans oppose drilling in the Arctic Refuge, the administration is moving forward with a plan that prioritizes oil industry interests over people, wildlife, and long-term economic stability. “For decades, the American people have recognized that the Arctic Refuge is not an industrial zone for oil development, and this sale simply runs counter to common sense,” said Andy Moderow, senior director of policy at Alaska Wilderness League. “Any oil and gas company that is even thinking about buying these leases...

Today the U.S. Senate voted to approve a resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) that serves to open the entire Coastal Plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil-and-gas drilling. The CRA vote strikes down a 2024 land-management...

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A herd of more than 300 caribou is moving across the tundra on Saint George Island, Alaska. REUTERS/Nathan Howard As reported by the media Reuters The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is resuming oil and gas exploration in the...

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The Arctic region is undergoing extraordinary changes, with its temperature rising significantly. The rise of temperature is two to four times faster than any other part of the Earth. These stats are shocking. This significant change is centered on the Arctic wildlife refuge. It is a diverse region in Alaska that is home to many kinds of unique wildlife species. Rapidly melting glaciers and dramatic images of wandering polar bears often make headlines.