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Dear NRDC Supporter,
Since Day One of his second term, the Trump administration has moved aggressively to sell out America’s Arctic in Alaska to Big Oil. With roughly one-third of all federal public lands located in this state, it has become an easy target for federal giveaways to extractive industries.
The attacks have come fast — and that’s intentional. It’s part of a general flood-the-zone strategy designed to overwhelm the public and obscure the Trump administration’s efforts to hand Arctic lands and waters to polluters.
Three key regions of America’s Arctic are now in the Trump administration's crosshairs: the Western Arctic, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and the Arctic Ocean.
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Courtesy of Protect The Arctic.
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So here’s your clear, no-nonsense guide to the Trump administration’s giveaway of America's Arctic to Big Oil — and how NRDC is fighting back.
Western Arctic
At 23.4 million acres, the Western Arctic is the largest single intact tract of public land in the United States. It provides critical habitat for polar bears, caribou, and millions of migratory birds, and is home to Iñupiat communities who have depended on these lands and waters for generations.
It also hosts the controversial Willow Project, where oil giant ConocoPhillips is building the largest onshore oil drilling operation in North America — on this fragile ecosystem. We already know that this project’s proposed pipeline alone would wreak havoc, cutting through a critical migration path for the Arctic’s caribou:
Now, the Trump administration is moving to strip away protections for millions of additional acres in the Western Arctic, opening even more of the region to drilling by:
- Moving to strip protections from 13 million acres of the Western Arctic, including critical wildlife habitat and subsistence areas, clearing the way for expanded drilling across one of the most ecologically intact landscapes in the Arctic.
- Finalizing its repeal of protections for sensitive areas in the Western Arctic, accelerating industrial development across lands that were meant to balance energy development with wildlife and subsistence protections.
And just weeks ago, mere months after this repeal, the nation’s largest onshore oil rig, contracted by ConocoPhillips, collapsed in the Western Arctic, spilling more than 4,000 gallons of oil onto the tundra — a horrifying preview of the dangers expanded drilling could bring to this remote region.
NRDC’s Response
We mobilized at scale. NRDC and its supporters submitted nearly 150,000 public comments opposing rollbacks of Western Arctic protections — making it crystal clear that Americans do not want the Arctic sold off to oil companies. Learn more about what’s at stake >>
We are also reviewing the Department of Interior’s (DOI) final repeal of Western Arctic protections and prepared to go to court if necessary to defend this critical landscape. Here’s what NRDC had to say about this move.
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Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge spans 19.3 million acres of pristine wilderness in northeast Alaska. It supports wolves, polar bears, and caribou — and its lands and waterways are central to the culture and survival of the Gwich’in and other Indigenous communities.
At the heart of the Refuge lies the 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain — often called the biological heart of the Arctic. This ecosystem is one of the most sensitive and ecologically rich landscapes in North America.
It is also on the Trump administration’s chopping block. The administration has already:
- Opened all 1.56 million acres of the Arctic Refuge’s Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing for the first time in history, dramatically increasing the risk of industrial sprawl across one of the world’s most sensitive ecosystems.
- Solicited public comments on which Coastal Plain tracts should be offered for sale — the first step toward the next mandated lease sale.
NRDC’s Response
NRDC and our members have been fighting to protect the Arctic Refuge for nearly 50 years. And we are continuing that fight, including in court, on the Trump administration’s latest efforts to open the area to drilling.
Earlier this month, NRDC filed suit to challenge the administration’s unlawful effort to open the Coastal Plain to drilling. More than 30,000 members also submitted public comments opposing this massive giveaway, strengthening the record as we fight in court to block it. Get the court battle details for NRDC et al. v. Doug Burgum et al. >> |
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Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is a vital, but extremely fragile, ecosystem that helps regulate the rest of the world’s climate. It supports a complex web of life, including polar bears, walruses, and endangered bowhead whales.
This region is already warming FOUR TIMES faster than the rest of the planet — and introducing massive industrial activity would further imperil Arctic wildlife and Indigenous communities who rely on them.
But that imminent danger hasn’t stopped the Trump administration from barreling ahead with disastrous plans to:
- Reopen protected federal waters in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi Seas to drilling with an executive order issued on the administration’s first day in office — jeopardizing fragile Arctic waters that support walruses, whales, seals, and polar bears, and risking a catastrophic oil spill in one of the hardest places on Earth to clean up.
- Proposing a sweeping expansion of offshore oil and gas leasing nationwide, including other areas in Alaska beyond the Arctic.
NRDC’s Response
We sued. NRDC and our partners filed a federal lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful attempt to undo permanent ocean protections. Presidents don’t have the authority to erase those safeguards with a pen — and we’re fighting to uphold the law. Learn more about this important case >>
We also mobilized. During two public comment periods, NRDC members submitted more than 42,000 comments opposing DOI’s reckless proposal to expand offshore drilling. And those comments matter. Federal agencies are legally required to consider public input — and failure to do so can provide grounds for litigation.
Want to understand how offshore leasing works and how the public can intervene? Check out our explainer >> |
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Make no mistake: We’re up against the dual forces of Washington and the oil and gas industry. But together we’ve fought and won before — and we will again. Here are two actions you can take right now:
1) Send a letter to ConocoPhillips’ CEO expressing your outrage about the company’s dangerous plans to drill in the Western Arctic.
The threats don't stop with the administration — oil and gas companies are lobbying hard to destroy Arctic lands and waters. We won’t let them get away with this land grab unnoticed. We must hold oil and gas companies accountable for their destruction of the Arctic.
2) RSVP to a community hearing and speak out to protect the Arctic.
NRDC and our partners are standing with Indigenous communities by speaking out against oil and gas lease sales in the Western Arctic and in the Arctic Refuge's Coastal Plain, sacred land for the Gwich'in people and critical habitat for wildlife. Find a community hearing near you.
Stay tuned for more ways to get involved in protecting the Arctic from the Trump administration and dangerous industries.
Sincerely,
NRDC |
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