WASHINGTON: The US Interior Department has said that it would cancel oil and gas leases in a federal wildlife refuge that were bought by an Alaska development department in the final days of former President Donald Trump’s government, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
US Will Cancel Alaska Oil and Gas Leases to Curb Climate Change
Trump’s administration had issued the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) several leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge a day before the inauguration of the current President Biden, who had vowed to protect the 19.6-million-acre habitat for caribou and polar bears.
Environmental and climate groups praised the step, while a Republican Senator from Alaska criticized it. However, the concerned officials were not immediately available for remarks.
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According to a statement issued by the Department of Interior, it would protect 13 million acres in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska which is the major undisturbed public land in the US.
These are the latest efforts by President Biden to rein in oil and gas exploration on public lands, part of an agenda to curb the challenge of climate change.
