<
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-administration-announce-cancellation-alaska-wildlife-drilling-leases-2023-09-06/>
'Sept 6 (
Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department on Wednesday said it would
cancel oil and gas leases in a federal wildlife refuge that were bought by an
Alaska state development agency in the final days of former President Donald
Trump's term.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has pledged to protect the 19.6 million-acre
(7.9 million-hectare) Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for polar bears
and caribou.
"As the climate crisis warms the Arctic more than twice as fast as the rest of
the world, we have a responsibility to protect this treasured region for all
ages," he said in a statement.
Trump's Republican administration had issued the Alaska Industrial Development
and Export Authority (AIDEA) seven leases a day before Biden's inauguration.
Environmentalists praised the decision but it was lambasted by a Republican
Senator from Alaska, where officials have sought to open up drilling in the
reserve to secure jobs and revenues for the state.
The government also said it would forbid new leasing on more than 10 million
acres in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, a 23 million-acre area on
the state's North Slope that is the largest undisturbed public land in the
United States.
The actions are the latest effort by Biden to rein in oil and gas activities on
public lands, part of a broader agenda to combat climate change.'
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-abortion-mexico-vaccine-indonesia-conservation-alaska/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
