Dear NRDC Activist,

Due west of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge lies another ecological treasure -- the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve, which grizzly bears and polar bears, caribou, rare birds, and many other fish and wildlife species rely on for survival. The Reserve is also home to dozens of Indigenous communities. Despite this abundance, all fossil fuel companies can see is millions of acres of potential oil and gas drilling.

However, President Biden’s Bureau of Land Management has announced a strong new proposal to protect much of the Reserve from being leased out for oil and gas drilling.

The agency is seeking public comments on the proposal – you have just days to submit your comment supporting President Biden’s proposed protections for Alaska’s Reserve from fossil fuel development.

The Arctic is warming more than four times as fast as the rest of the planet. In addition to protecting imperiled wildlife, stopping drilling here is a key step to avert climate catastrophe.

Recently, the Biden administration canceled a set of unlawful oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a tremendous victory for Alaska lands. We applaud that move, but even more must be done.

If this proposal to protect the Reserve is finalized, it could establish an outright prohibition on any new oil and gas leasing on 10.6 million acres, more than 40 percent of the Reserve. It would also ensure maximum protection for the more than 13 million acres of designated Special Areas – sensitive landscapes – in the Reserve.

And this proposal could also help curb the threat of the illegally-approved Willow oil drilling project, which ConocoPhillips plans to use as a hub for even more fossil fuel development in the Reserve.

Hands off the Arctic! Protect the precious lands of Alaska’s Reserve.

We’re so grateful for activists like you who have been fighting back against the Willow Project and expanded fossil fuel development across the Arctic. Now, we urgently need your help again.

Our fight to protect the Arctic from oil and gas drilling depends on you. Comment before the November 17 deadline!

Sincerely,

Bobby McEnaney
Director, Dirty Energy Project, Nature Program, NRDC