The Gwich’in Steering Committee and other groups are appealing a federal judge’s ruling that cleared the way for the Trump administration to reauthorize fossil fuel development in part of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The dozen challengers warned that the court’s decision, which reversed the Biden administration’s cancellation of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority’s seven leases, would endanger the refuge’s coastal plain.
“The leasing program that issued those leases to AIDEA violated the law and disregarded how oil and gas drilling will impact our way of life,” said Kristen Moreland, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, in a statement.
The appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes after Chief Judge Sharon Gleason of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska ruled in March that the Biden administration should have asked for a court order before canceling the leases.
