(CNN) — In a sweeping win for climate and environmental advocates, the Biden administration on Friday finalized a rule to ban fossil fuel drilling on nearly half of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, alongside other major conservation actions.
The Interior Department will block oil drilling on over 13 million acres in the Western Arctic, including about 40% of the land of the NPR-A – a remote area that is home to protected animal species including polar bears and caribou.
The reserve is more than 23 million acres of public land and an underground emergency oil supply for the US Navy that was designated in the early 1920s. More recently, it’s become the site of the ConocoPhillips-owned Willow project, a controversial oil drilling venture in the Arctic.
When the Biden administration approved Willow in March 2023, it sparked intense backlash among young people on social media, as well as environmental and climate groups. Friday’s action could improve President Joe Biden’s approval among young voters.
“These natural wonders demand our protection,” Biden said in a statement. Biden said he was “proud” of his administration’s move to conserve more than 13 million acres in the Western Arctic, but added, “as the climate crisis imperils communities across the country, more must be done.”
Some Alaska Natives are critical of the drilling ban across such a significant swath of the NPR-A. It has proved controversial with Alaska’s bipartisan congressional delegation, as well as Alaska Native groups who say they depend on the tax revenue from oil drilling to fund schools and basic services.
The ban will also open the president to attacks from Republicans that he is failing to prioritize American energy independence and is driving up the price of gasoline. But under Biden’s tenure, the US is producing more oil than any country in history, CNN Business reported, and gas prices are down $1.35 from their all-time high in June 2022.
In addition to protecting a vast amount of the NPR-A on Friday, the Biden administration moved to block the Trump administration-approved Ambler road in the Alaskan wilderness. If built, the road would serve as the access point for a proposed copper mine. The administration signaled it wanted to take “no action” on the mine, effectively blocking the road’s access to federal land.
The Alaska announcements cap off a week that saw a flurry of actions from Biden’s Interior Department. On Thursday, the department announced a new rule that elevated conservation to put it on equal footing as other public land uses like grazing, mining and other energy development. The new conservation rule covers 245 million acres largely in the Western United States – about a tenth of the land in the nation.
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