Biden’s approval of an oil lease sale will keep the door open to drilling in Alaska’s Arctic refuge

Associated Press

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Biden administration has given approval for the sale of oil and gas leases in Alaska, leaving the door open for drilling in a portion of the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The sale will be held next month, less than two weeks before Biden leaves office. It will include a fraction of the land total that was available for bidding roughly four years ago in a lease sale under the Trump administration. A 2017 law mandated lease sales in the refuge’s coastal plain by late 2024, but has not led to oil drilling yet. It’s unclear if that will change with approval for a new sale.