#anwr

President Joe Biden imposed a “temporary moratorium” on all oil and gas leasing activities in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge shortly after taking office on Wednesday, citing the “alleged legal deficiencies underlying the program” and the inadequacy of a required environmental review.

Biden’s move to slam the brakes on drilling in the northeast Alaska refuge is among a list of executive orders the newly-inaugurated president swiftly signed to undo actions by his predecessor.

The Biden administration has put an end to Donald Trump’s last minute attempt to allow oil drilling in a sensitive wildlife refuge in Alaska. 

In January, Mr Trump pushed ahead with the sale for the rights to drill for oil on around 5% of the refuge, just days before his presidential term ended.

Covering some 19 million acres (78,000 sq km) the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is often described as America's last great wilderness.

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During his campaign, Mr Biden pledged to protect the habitat.

"President Biden believes America's national treasures are cultural and economic cornerstones of our country," White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy said in a statement.

"He is grateful for the prompt action by the Department of the Interior to suspend all leasing pending a review of decisions made in the last administration's final days that could have changed the character of this special place forever," she added.

We don’t need to encourage fossil fuel production and consumption. And we certainly shouldn’t be sliming one of the last great large wilderness areas in the US in order to obtain outmoded fossil fuels

5 species that stand to lose the most if the US allows drilling in the Arctic Refuge

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is safe as long as there are pro-environment Democrats in the White House.

Despite shutdown, Trump administration continues work to begin oil drilling in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

As the partial government shutdown drags on, the Trump administration is making sure some Interior Department employees continue work on one of its biggest, most controversial priorities: opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

Drilling opponents were quick to criticize the move, contrasting it with the overflowing trash cans and unattended public toilets in national parks managed by Interior, which have become a symbol of the continuing stalemate in Washington, D.C. 

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But groups opposed to expanding oil development in Alaska’s Arctic criticized Interior’s decision to continue its NPR-A and Arctic refuge-related work during the partial shutdown.

One former Interior employee, now working for a law firm that represents environmental organizations that have sued the Trump administration over oil development, said it is “unusual” to press forward with public meetings during a shutdown.

“When I was with the government I never saw anything like that happen — generally, all non-essential work was basically shut down and employees are not even supposed to be checking their emails,” said Bridget Psarianos, a staff attorney with Trustees for Alaska who formerly worked as project manager for BLM’s Alaska office.

Creeping over the continental divide