Green Groups to Appeal Revived Oil, Gas Leases in Alaskan Refuge

Environmental groups challenging the reinstatement of federal oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge signaled they’re taking the fight to the Ninth Circuit.

The Alaska Wilderness League, National Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, and others on May 16 filed a notice of appeal of an Alaska federal judge’s March decision vacating the Biden administration’s termination of seven leases granted to the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.

The US Interior Department in 2023 canceled the AIDEA oil and gas leases in the refuge as part of then-President Joe Biden’s efforts to address climate change.

AIDEA claimed in its ...