Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups are urging the Interior Department to limit oil and gas drilling in more areas of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve.
Meanwhile, an Alaska oil trade organization says the administration needs to ease its regulations in the 23-million-acre reserve on Alaska’s North Slope.
Interior’s Bureau of Land Management opened the door earlier this summer to expanding the reserve’s “special areas,” which are virtually off-limits to new oil and gas leasing. The areas protect the Arctic’s diverse wildlife — like caribou herds and thousands of migrating bird species — primarily from development by the Alaska oil industry.
Monday was the deadline for public comment on the proposal. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) led 52 lawmakers in asking BLM Director Tracey Stone Manning to consider new areas for protection.
