By Nichola Groom
(Reuters) -The Biden administration moved on Friday to limit both oil and gas drilling and mining in Alaska, angering state officials who said the restrictions will cost jobs and make the United States dependent on foreign resources. , but they will please environmentalists.
The measures are aligned with President Joe Biden's efforts to curb oil and gas activities on public lands and conserve 30% of American lands and waters to combat climate change.
The Department of the Interior finalized a regulation to block oil and gas development in 40% of Alaska's National Petroleum Reserve to protect the habitats of polar bears, caribou and other wildlife and communities' way of life. natives.
The agency also said it would reject a proposal by a state agency to build a 211-mile (340-kilometer) highway intended to allow mining development in the Ambler mining district in north central Alaska.
The agency cited risks to caribou and fish populations that dozens of native communities depend on for their livelihoods.
“I am proud that my Administration is taking action to conserve more than 13 million acres in the Western Arctic and honor the culture, history and enduring wisdom of the Alaska Natives who have lived and stewarded these lands since time immemorial,” Biden said. in a sentence.
NPR-A, as it is known, is a 23 million acre (93 million hectares) area on the northern slopes of the state that is the largest tract of undisturbed public land in the United States. The new rule would prohibit oil and gas leasing on 10.6 million acres (4.3 million hectares) and limit development on more than 2 million additional acres (809,000 hectares).
The rule would not affect existing oil and gas operations, including ConocoPhillips' (NYSE:) $8 billion Willow project, which the Biden administration approved last year.
Currently, oil and gas leases cover about 2.5 million acres (1 hectare).
The Ambler Access Project, proposed by the Alaska Development and Industrial Export Authority, would allow mining development in an area with zinc and lead deposits and create jobs, the authority said.
The Interior Bureau of Land Management released its environmental analysis of the project on Friday, recommending “no action” as its preferred alternative. The project now faces a final decision by the Department of the Interior.
Republican senators from Alaska and several other states held a news conference Thursday to criticize the administration's widely expected decisions.
“When they take away our access to our resources, when they say they can't drill, they can't produce, they can't explore, they can't move them, this is the energy insecurity we're talking about,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski. “We're still going to need the germanium, the gallium, the copper. We're still going to need the oil. But we're just not going to get it from Alaska.”
Environmentalists, an important part of Biden's base ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. election, praised measures to protect habitats and cultural resources at a time of change in the region.
“As the Arctic undergoes dramatic climate change, this new rule (in NPR-A) is absolutely necessary to protect birds, caribou and fish,” said David Krause, interim executive director of Audubon Alaska.
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