Conservation and Indigenous groups are suing the Interior Department to block new oil exploration in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve.
Interior’s Bureau of Land Management gave the green light late last month for ConocoPhillips to begin seismic testing and exploratory drilling for oil deposits in the 23 million-acre reserve, despite warnings of the environmental risks of further fossil fuel development in the largely undeveloped North Slope region.
The authorization came on the heels of Interior finalizing a new rule in November that opened up half of the reserve to oil and gas development, reversing ecological protections for the reserve — known as the NPR-A — instituted under the Biden administration in 2024.
“BLM has pushed this project through without proper analysis or process and without considering the significant flaws in the measures it relies on to justify its approval of the exploration program,” Earthjustice attorneys told the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska in a complaint filed Thursday.
