Appeals court dismisses Alaska oil and gas drilling case

By Niina H. Farah | 01/29/2025 06:49 AM EST

The lawsuit targeted a now-defunct moratorium on drilling in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

A federal appeals court last week officially closed the book on a lawsuit seeking to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain to oil and gas drilling, after a lease sale held there earlier this month failed to draw any bidders.

On Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request from the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), the North Slope Borough and Alaska Native corporations to voluntarily dismiss their case opposing a Biden-era moratorium on fossil fuel drilling and suspension of AIDEA’s seven leases in the refuge’s coastal plain.

AIDEA and the other challengers told the 9th Circuit earlier this month their case against the Interior Department was moot after the agency issued a final record of decision (ROD) in December lifting the moratorium on the oil and gas program.

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The agency then held a sale on Jan. 9 offering 400,000 acres that ended with no bids. The sale was the second of two mandated by Congress under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

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