Biden Legally Cancelled Arctic Refuge Oil Leases, Groups Argue

The Biden administration had the legal authority to cancel oil and gas leases within Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a coalition of environmental and tribal groups argued Monday in an appeals court filing.

The group of intervenor-defendant-appellants, led by the Gwich’in Steering Committee, are asking the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to reinstate the Interior Department’s 2023 decision to cancel oil and gas leases they say were illegally issued to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority by the first Trump administration.

The state and federal government are scheduled to file briefs responding to the groups’ arguments ...