The US government will ban any new oil or gas exploration in a huge area of northern Alaska, protecting local populations and wildlife, five months after approving a hydrocarbons project in that region.
This new measure affects more than four million hectares, an area comparable to that of Denmark, within the national oil reserve, a vital natural space for populations of brown bears, polar bears, reindeer and hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. .
“Alaska is home to many of America’s most beautiful natural wonders,” US President Joe Biden said in a statement.
“As the climate crisis warms the Arctic at more than twice the rate of the rest of the world, we have a responsibility to protect these precious regions for centuries to come,” he added.
The Department of the Interior, responsible for federal lands in the United States, added that it had canceled seven operating licenses authorized by former President Donald Trump in another protected area in northern Alaska.
The drilling licenses granted by Trump (2017-2021) had already been temporarily suspended in June 2021 due to “legal deficiencies” in the concession process.
The government led by the Democratic president was widely criticized by environmentalists after its decision in March to authorize a vast oil project by US giant ConocoPhillips in this very national oil reserve.
The decision announced on Wednesday does not call into question this project, called Willow.
Reduced to three drilling zones compared to the five initially requested by the company, it will cost between 8,000 and 10,000 million dollars and will cause a total of indirect emissions equivalent to 239 million tons of CO2.
Environmental associations have denounced a climate catastrophe and some see Wednesday’s announcement as a return of the Biden administration.
The new plan announced Wednesday also prohibits drilling in an area of more than 1 million hectares in the Beaufort Sea, located north of the north coast of Alaska, and helping local indigenous peoples.
The territory is considered sacred by the Kutchin (also called Gwich’in), an aboriginal group of northern North America.
Joe Biden had promised during his presidential campaign to freeze oil exploration licenses, a promise he failed to keep.
Analysts point out that judicial decisions have limited their room for maneuver in this matter.
The Democratic president also approved a massive $400 billion climate investment plan last year.
Source: TSF
