President Donald Trump is charging full steam ahead to unlock the vast energy potential of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), a move that’s got environmentalists clutching their recycled hemp bags.
The administration is gearing up to allow oil and gas leasing across the entire 1.56-million-acre coastal plain of ANWR, a pristine tundra on Alaska’s North Slope, reversing over four decades of protective status as part of a broader push for fossil fuel dominance, Politico reported.
This isn’t a new fight—ANWR’s coastal plain, part of the largest wildlife refuge in North America established in 1980, has long been a battleground between energy advocates and conservationists.
Back in 2017, Trump first ordered drilling in this remote region, spurred by a provision in his tax overhaul legislation, championed by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, which mandated lease sales in the coastal plain.
That initial effort stumbled, plagued by legal challenges and shaky environmental reviews, culminating in a lackluster lease sale on Jan. 6, 2021, where only three bidders showed up, with no major oil players in sight.
Seven of those nine leases went to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA), a state agency, but President Joe Biden slammed the brakes on the program just two weeks after taking office in 2021.
Biden’s pause led to a suspension and eventual cancellation of AIDEA’s leases, though a federal court later overturned that cancellation, keeping the door cracked open for drilling.
Under Biden, a revised environmental impact statement in November 2024 restricted leasing to just 400,000 acres with tight rules on caribou habitat, and a second lease sale before he left office drew zero interest.
Now, Trump is back with a vengeance, issuing an executive order on his first day in his current term to rescind Biden’s restrictions and reopen the entire coastal plain for drilling.
The Interior Department is expected to announce this decision later this month, though a government shutdown might push that timeline, and plans are in motion to reinstate AIDEA’s seven leases from 2021.
Trump’s vision extends beyond ANWR, with plans to scrap protections for 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) and schedule lease sales in both areas potentially as soon as this year.
Supporters, like some North Slope communities that reap financial benefits from drilling, see this as a win, with groups like Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat backing responsible development. “Our position is aligned with Kaktovik — the only community located within the boundaries of ANWR — and VOICE will continue advocating for policies that strengthen the North Slope’s economy, advance Indigenous self-determination, and sustain Iñupiaq culture,” said Nagruk Harcharek, President of Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat. And let’s be honest, who better to weigh in than the folks actually living there, not some D.C. desk jockey?
On the flip side, environmental groups are gearing up for a legal showdown, decrying the impact on ANWR’s shrinking polar bear population, the Porcupine caribou herd, and migratory birds. “Opening the entire Coastal Plain of the Arctic Refuge to drilling would destroy one of the most ecologically significant landscapes on Earth — the birthing grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd, vital habitat for polar bears and migratory birds, and sacred land for the Gwich’in people who have stewarded its resources for millennia,” said Kristen Miller, Executive Director of Alaska Wilderness League.
While the passion is noted, one wonders if these critics have a realistic alternative to keep America’s energy humming without bowing to foreign oil barons. Industry interest remains a question mark—low crude prices have already forced layoffs at giants like Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, and drilling in such a remote spot might not be the gold rush Trump envisions.
Still, with a budget reconciliation bill passed in July mandating at least four lease sales over the next decade, the administration is betting big on Alaska’s untapped reserves. It’s a gamble, but if it pays off, it could mean energy security over endless progressive hand-wringing.
